Saudi Arabia: The future of arms dealsnote

Reports from Riyadh suggest the possibility of the Saudi Ministry of Defence and Aviation (MoDA) delaying arms programmes due to the prevailing global financial crisis and fall in oil prices, notably the programmes that are not urgently necessary or the deals that can be replaced with temporary alternatives. The following 426-word article included in Tactical Weekly of December 12, 2008 focuses on the issue and tells which deals may be postponed. It also tells what the position of Saudi Prince Khaled Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz is. Note that Prince Khaled acts as Assistant Defence Minister for Military Affairs.