The Kuwaiti government and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) must work together to form a regional ballistic defense shield to counter aerial threats, analysts say, a crucial move to protect the region from threats as missiles and drone technology improve.

Kuwait's strategic location, bordering Iraq and Saudi Arabia, makes it a gateway to the Gulf and a key deterrent to potential threats -- most notably from Iran and its proxies.

But an attack in 2019 demonstrated that Kuwaiti airspace was penetrable by low-observable munitions like drones and cruise missiles.

On September 14, 2019, drones and cruise missiles were used to attack oil processing facilities at a processing plant in Abqaiq and the Khurais oil field in eastern Saudi Arabia. The drones are presumed to have passed through Kuwaiti airspace.

The attacks sparked fires at the two facilities. The two plants, owned by state energy giant Aramco, had to shut down for repairs. As a result, it knocked 5.7 million barrels per day (bpd) off production over several days, temporarily halving the kingdom's crude output and causing turmoil in global energy markets.

The United States and Saudi Arabia held Iran responsible for the attacks, with US officials saying the drones and missiles came from the north or northwest of Saudi Arabia.

The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen claimed responsibility for the strikes.

The attacks showed how low-observable munitions like drones and cruise missiles could fly over Kuwaiti airspace. In response, Kuwait searched for stopgap solutions to sensing and interception and is expanding its defense systems.

Kuwait's current defense systems

The Gulf country is currently equipped with land-based missiles, the Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2) and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles. These PAC missiles are part of a medium- to long-range air defense system that has the capacity to engage ballistic missiles or defeat targets with a direct strike.

For medium-range air defense, Kuwait has the MIM-23 HAWK, a surface-to-air guided missile, and the Spada 2000.

The Spada 2000 is a ground-based, all-weather air defense system for the protection of sensitive ground sites (air bases, ports, industrial plants and other important buildings).

It uses Aspide 2000 missiles, which can intercept incoming aircraft before they release standoff weapons. The system can track up to 100 targets at the same time.

Kuwait also has the Skyshield 35 for short-range air defense. The system has autonomous search and tracking capabilities and uses an Oerlikon 35/1000 Revolver Gun, which fires rounds that detonate in front of a target and eject many sub-projectiles.

Upgrades

Since the attack on Saudi oil facilities, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense has commissioned several air defense upgrades to its existing systems and new radar procurement programs.

One major procurement is the National Advanced Surface-To-Air Missile System (NASAMS).

In October 2022, the US State Department approved a possible foreign military sale to Kuwait, including NASAMS, the Medium Range Air Defense System and other related equipment. The estimated cost was $3 billion.

NASAMS is a mid-range air defense system, designed to protect high-value assets and population centers against air-to-surface threats. It was developed jointly by Raytheon Technologies (now called RTX) and a Norwegian company, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.

NASAMS has three primary components: the AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel Radar, the AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) and the Fire Distribution Center.

The system provides air defenders with a highly adaptable system to maximize their ability to acquire, engage and destroy current and evolving enemy fixed and rotary wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and emerging cruise missile threats, according to RTX.

As a member of the GCC, which has been tasked with forming a regional ballistic missile defense shield, Kuwait is working with Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to achieve this goal.

Kuwait's expanded air defense is part of this larger effort in the region to form a missile defense shield.