Saudi, US fighter jets escort two US B-1 strategic bombers over Red Sea

Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF)’s F-15SA and F-15C fighters, and US F-16 fighters escorted two US B-1 bombers while crossing the Red Sea airspace on Thursday, state news agency SPA reported.

The drill comes as a continuation of the cooperation between the Saudi-US air forces to maintain the security and stability of the region.

Until November 18, the “Gulf Shooting 2021” drill is also taking place in Kuwait, with the participation of the Royal Saudi Land Forces, the Kuwaiti Land Force and US Army’s Spartan Force.

The commander of the drill, Colonel Nayef bin al-Humaidi, said that this drill aims to strengthen military relations and joint defense cooperation with friendly countries, and exchange military experiences and knowledge, to “highlight and unify the combat capability of the three countries,” according to SPA.

In this exercise, training is conducted in the field of “planning and implementation of command and control procedures,” al-Humaidi said.

The exercise also covers procedures for commanding forces and achieving a rapid response to emergency situations for joint ground operations, in addition to developing skills to implement tactical shooting for infantry and armored units in conjunction with close air support and administrative support operations, the press agency said.

Last week, the Royal Saudi Air Force and the US Air Force completed a joint exercise on Sunday with the participation of Saudi Arabia’s F-15C fighters and the US’ B-1 strategic bombers.

Earlier in October, the joint naval exercise Indigo Defender-21 between Saudi Arabia and the US kicked off, SPA reported.