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The Impact of Iran-Backed Drone Attacks on Saudi Arabia from Iraq
(Liberty Unyielding) J.E. Dyer - The Wall Street Journal reported that a drone-bomb attack on a Saudi oil pumping station on May 14 was launched not by Houthi fighters in Yemen but by Iran-backed Shia militias in Iraq. The signature of the strike was similar to the drone-bomb Israel downed in February 2018, which had originated from a compound south of Damascus controlled by Iran. A drone-bomb is not an "armed drone" that releases a bomb and then departs. The drone itself is the delivery mechanism for the warhead. Saudi Arabia's air defense problem has been transformed overnight. The low/slow-flier threat is one against which integrated Saudi defenses are not optimized, especially looking to the north. The writer is a retired U.S. Naval Intelligence officer.