Joint Defense Agreement: Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, news & updates

[Desert]

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/greek-operated-air-defence-system-shoots-down-drones-over-saudi-2026-08-27/

Looks like the Greeks are already doing a lot of the heavy lifting in defending Saudi Arabia against drone attacks. Will they also be invited to join the pact or will Saudi Arabia ask them to leave along with their Patriots because Turkiye has problems with Greece ?

The Greek contigent in Saudi Arabia has again proven its worth.

Chronology and Operational History

• 2021 (Deployment): Greece and Saudi Arabia signed a bilateral defense agreement. The Hellenic Air Force deployed a U.S.-made Patriot PAC-3 guided missile battery alongside roughly 130 personnel from the 350th Guided Missile Wing to the Yanbu region. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
• March 19, 2026: The contingent saw its first live-combat activation, successfully neutralizing two Iranian ballistic missiles aimed at Western Saudi refineries. [1, 2]
• April 6, 2026: ELDYSA personnel intercepted and destroyed one Iranian Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) using a single missile
• July 2026: The battery intercepted two ballistic missiles followed by two hostile UAVs a week later, both salvos launched by Houthi forces from Yemen targeting the Yanbu energy hub.
• August 27, 2026: In its most recent operation, the Greek-manned unit fired three missiles to help shoot down a swarm of hostile drones in coordination with Saudi air defense networks.

View attachment 212910

View attachment 212898


The question about leaving however is not just because of the recent pact between Saudi Arabia,Turkey and Pakistan. That's the latest development and it's mostly political. The left and far-left is screaming for Greece not to have any participation anywhere and the center and right are criiticizing the government for keeping a battery there,protecting a country that recently signed a mutual defence agreement with our enemy.

But there are a couple of other more important problems:

1.The Saudis were supposed to fund the upgrade of the contigent there and pay for all the expenses. Apparently,that hasn't happened.

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2.The missile inventory is being squandered for Saudis at a time when there's already a big line for Patriot missiles and big pressure for everyone to donate or sell to Ukraine.
Generally,even the Americans have a tough time replenishing their stocks.

The greek presence here didn't help at all in Yanbu since Aramaco facilities got targeted successfully on 27 august and before it on 24 august amzan oil tanker was targeted successfully

 

[Foinikas]

The greek presence here didn't help at all in Yanbu since Aramaco facilities got targeted successfully on 27 august and before it on 24 august amzan oil tanker was targeted successfully

Nah,I'll trust official sources.

 

[flyingorca]

 

[hyperman]

The Greek contigent in Saudi Arabia has again proven its worth.

Chronology and Operational History

• 2021 (Deployment): Greece and Saudi Arabia signed a bilateral defense agreement. The Hellenic Air Force deployed a U.S.-made Patriot PAC-3 guided missile battery alongside roughly 130 personnel from the 350th Guided Missile Wing to the Yanbu region. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
• March 19, 2026: The contingent saw its first live-combat activation, successfully neutralizing two Iranian ballistic missiles aimed at Western Saudi refineries. [1, 2]
• April 6, 2026: ELDYSA personnel intercepted and destroyed one Iranian Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) using a single missile
• July 2026: The battery intercepted two ballistic missiles followed by two hostile UAVs a week later, both salvos launched by Houthi forces from Yemen targeting the Yanbu energy hub.
• August 27, 2026: In its most recent operation, the Greek-manned unit fired three missiles to help shoot down a swarm of hostile drones in coordination with Saudi air defense networks.

View attachment 212910

View attachment 212898


The question about leaving however is not just because of the recent pact between Saudi Arabia,Turkey and Pakistan. That's the latest development and it's mostly political. The left and far-left is screaming for Greece not to have any participation anywhere and the center and right are criiticizing the government for keeping a battery there,protecting a country that recently signed a mutual defence agreement with our enemy.

But there are a couple of other more important problems:

1.The Saudis were supposed to fund the upgrade of the contigent there and pay for all the expenses. Apparently,that hasn't happened.

View attachment 212908View attachment 212909

2.The missile inventory is being squandered for Saudis at a time when there's already a big line for Patriot missiles and big pressure for everyone to donate or sell to Ukraine.
Generally,even the Americans have a tough time replenishing their stocks.

Greece should leave Saudi.

 

[Sinan]

KSA is one of the most educated societies on the planet with an almost 100% literacy rate with one of the highest scientific outputs per capita as well.

This was an article from 2016 from NATURE:

The rise of Saudi Arabia as a science powerhouse​

The rise of Saudi Arabia as a science powerhouse

Oil fuels Saudi Arabia’s rise as a regional science powerhouse.

www.natureasia.com

Saudi Arabian women are one of the most educated in the world and have one of the highest percentages of STEM graduates in the world as well.

Saudi Women STEM Graduates: 73% Science, 12% Engineering

Saudi women STEM graduates: 72.6% of science degrees but 12.1% of engineering degrees on UNESCO data — the lowest engineering share in the Gulf.

vision2030.ai

Recently a half Saudi Arabian half Jordanian (Saudi Arabian citizen as well) received a Noble Prize in chemistry.

Omar M. Yaghi - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

We have 1 Saudi Arabian aerospace engineer (woman) in the US (formerly employed by NASA) that runs her own aerospace company that is designing missiles etc.

Mishaal Ashemimry: The First Saudi Female Aerospace Engineer Inspiring a Nation

From the deserts of Unayzah to NASA labs and national strategy rooms, Mishaal Ashemimry is charting Saudi Arabia's path to the stars, aligning science, innovation, and empowerment with Vision 2030.

www.saudiwins.com

About — Mishaal Ashemimry | Official Site

www.mishaalashemimry.com

Saudi Arabian universties are the best-ranked in the entire Muslim world and one of the highest ranked overall.

https://www.universityrankings.ch/results?ranking=QS&q=Saudi%20Arabia

The economy is booming as well.





One of the highest industrial growths in the world. Recently KSA achieved 26 % self-sufficiency in terms of localization of military spending and production. Many key military sectors are gaining high degrees of self-sufficiency.

Speaking of nuclear energy cooperation, around 5-10% of all the world's uranium reserves are found in KSA.

No need to mention that KSA is the richest country in the world in terms of resources compared to per capita wealth.

View attachment 211790

10 Countries With the Most Natural Resources

Learn about the 10 countries with the most valuable natural resources, ranked by total estimated reserves, and see which ones dominate global resource wealth.

www.investopedia.com

Saudi Arabia ranks first at International Nuclear Science Olympiad as students claim gold medals​

August 9, 2026 | 02:28 PM
Saudi Gazette
Last Updated: August 9, 2026 | 02:51 PM

EDDAH — Saudi student Jana Al-Sabil’s gold medal and “Best Female Student” award at the third International Nuclear Science Olympiad 2026, along with Amjad Al-Darwish’s gold medal and “Nuclear Science Ambassador” title, helped Saudi Arabia rank first overall in the competition.

Jana Saleh Al-Sabil won the gold medal and “Best Female Student” award in recognition of her scientific excellence and performance in the competition.

Presented by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the award was among the special prizes approved by the Olympiad’s International Council to honor female students for scientific excellence, highlight their contributions to nuclear science, and encourage their participation in specialized scientific fields.

Al-Sabil was selected following her outstanding performance in the Olympiad, which included two examinations — one theoretical and one practical — each lasting five hours.

The exams assessed participants’ knowledge and skills in nuclear science, as well as their abilities to conduct scientific analysis and experiments, interpret results, and solve advanced problems.

Saudi Arabia ranked first in the third edition of the Olympiad after Amjad Mahmoud Al-Darwish won a gold medal and the title of “Nuclear Science Ambassador” for achieving the highest combined score in the theoretical and practical examinations among all competitors.

In addition, Abdulaziz Abdulmohsen Al-Sharait won a silver medal, while Saleh Mubarak Dhaifallah Al-Harbi received a bronze medal.

The Olympiad, hosted by Saudi Arabia in Jeddah from August 2 to 9, brought together 120 students and scientific specialists representing 19 countries.

It was jointly organized by the Ministry of Education, the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba), and King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, while King Abdulaziz University hosted the competitions and activities.

The International Nuclear Science Olympiad, approved by the IAEA in 2024, is an international scientific competition for secondary school students that aims to develop their knowledge and skills in nuclear science and its peaceful applications and encourage innovation and scientific research in the field.

Saudi Arabia ranks first at International Nuclear Science Olympiad as students claim gold medals

Saudi student Jana Al-Sabil's gold medal and 'Best Female Student' award at the third International Nuclear Science Olympiad 2026, along with Amjad Al-Darwish's gold medal and 'Nuclear Science Ambassador' title, helped Saudi Arabia rank first overall in the competition.

saudigazette.com.sa

KSA just signed a nuclear energy deal with the US with very few strings attached and if implemented it will turn KSA into one of the world's largest nuclear energy powers.

https://npolicy.org/no-gold-standard-no-israel-clause-what-the-saudi-nuclear-deal-actually-says-mbn/

So KSA offers far more than just financial power (which is arguably the most important element in the world).

I'm sick of people treating Saudia Arabia like a piggy bank. It's like "We will do things, and Saudis will finance it". I don't think it will work like that. Yes, Pakistan and Turkey has more experience in defence industry, but i think the way to move forward to establish the foundations of defence industry in Saudi Arabia.

That said, the Turkish experts i listened to generally say, finding work force in Saudi Arabia can be challenging. Most of the gulf states including Saudi Arabia relies on foreign workers. I don't know how true is that though.

 

[mythbuster]

I'm sick of people treating Saudia Arabia like a piggy bank. It's like "We will do things, and Saudis will finance it". I don't think it will work like that. Yes, Pakistan and Turkey has more experience in defence industry, but i think the way to move forward to establish the foundations of defence industry in Saudi Arabia.

That said, the Turkish experts i listened to generally say, finding work force in Saudi Arabia can be challenging. Most of the gulf states including Saudi Arabia relies on foreign workers. I don't know how true is that though.

Saudi Arabia can hire workers from all over the world , that's not the issue.... espionage by expat workers will be rampant and uncontrollable.

 

[PAKISTANFOREVER]

Saudi Arabia can hire workers from all over the world , that's not the issue.... espionage by expat workers will be rampant and uncontrollable.

ESPECIALLY by indian workers but the Saudis I believe, MUST be on to them.

 

[Yasser76]

ESPECIALLY by indian workers but the Saudis I believe, MUST be on to them.

Qataris learnt this the hard way

 

[Foinikas]

Greece should leave Saudi.

Elaborate on this a bit. Meaning why do you personally think we should.