Following last weekend’s Houthi attacks on its airports, Saudi Arabia is seeking US defence support. The appeal comes a year after the kingdom gave its military a historic cash injection, making it the world’s eighth-largest defence spender – and is a test of the alliances that it has cultivated.
Last weekend’s attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 300. King Fahd International Airport in Dammam has also been targeted by the Iran-backed Houthis, who have claimed responsibility as Saudi Arabia steps up airstrikes supporting a Yemeni government counteroffensive. A conflict that Riyadh had hoped to leave behind is again reaching its passenger terminals, raising the question: why are the country’s principal gateways still so vulnerable?
It’s tempting to wonder whether fewer mirrored Giga-Projects and more attention to national security might have helped but Saudi Arabia has hardly starved its military of money. (The 170km-long megacity, The Line, has been scaled back, along with other projects.) To be fair to the kingdom, Saudi Arabia covers more than two million square kilometres, with its airports, cities and oil installations so spread out that even sophisticated Patriot and Thaad systems cannot provide an impenetrable canopy.
The Houthis have established themselves as formidable adversaries. Once a localised guerilla movement, they’re now a highly capable hybrid military force with stockpiles of missiles and sophisticated drones. And they have geography on their side, operating out of northern Yemen’s rugged mountains.
The Iran war has consumed large quantities of interceptors, putting Saudi supplies and those of its partners under strain. Replenishment could take more than a year. A large defence budget is useful but it can’t instantly conjure extra missiles off a production line that’s already serving a queue of anxious customers.
Riyadh’s allies are providing help, with the US, Turkey and Pakistan sending defensive and technical support and troops. But the Saudi government’s appeal suggests that what is available is insufficient. The kingdom has spent years cultivating these key partnerships; now it needs to determine how much practical protection those alliances provide.
Donald Trump has said that he is considering joining strikes against the Houthis but he finds himself in a difficult position. A ceasefire agreed between the Houthis and the US, brokered by Oman in May 2025, gives him reason to hesitate. The upcoming midterm elections in the US could also temper his enthusiasm.
Benjamin Netanyahu has strongly condemned the Riyadh airport attack – which is noteworthy, given that Israel doesn’t have formal diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia. There’s ongoing talk of the US encouraging Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords. Meanwhile, if the kingdom’s security needs become urgent enough, it might seek access to Israel’s Iron Dome system – a move that would have far-reaching implications for regional alliances.
In the wake of the weekend’s attacks, Anwar Gargash, a senior adviser to the UAE’s president, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, called for renewed defence co-operation across the region. While a Gulf Cooperation Council defence agreement already exists, political trust remains hard to cement. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have backed rival factions in Yemen and competition for investment gives neighbours further cause to guard their interests. But practical co-operation need not wait for perfect harmony.
The damage caused by this latest spate of Houthi aggression reaches well beyond the Gulf. Anu-Eerika Viljanen, Finland’s former ambassador to Saudi Arabia who is now back in Helsinki, told Monocle that a delegation didn’t consider using a Gulf airport in its planning for a forthcoming trip to Southeast Asia. That should trouble Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi.
Saudi Arabia’s hefty defence spending makes it hard to argue that it has spent too little on security. But it is fair to ask whether military readiness has received the same attention lavished on a mirrored linear city or a cliff-edge stadium in the mountains. Achieving the goals outlined in the country’s Vision 2030 plan depends on getting the security basics right. For now, keeping existing airports safely open would be a more persuasive advert for the kingdom than unveiling another futuristic destination.
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