The exercise commenced on 14 February 2016 and would conclude on 10 March near King Khaled Military City in northeastern Saudi Arabia, with the participation of various military disciplines of artillery, tanks, and infantry, and air defense systems, naval forces.[10]

Exercise North Thunder

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North Thunder
Type	Military exercises
Location	Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Target	Raise the technical and combat efficiency combat readiness to carry out joint missions between the participating States forces rates
Date	February 2016
Executed by	Saudi armed forces Egyptian armed forces Sudanese Armed Forces UAE Armed Forces Jordanian Armed Forces Kuwaiti army Bahrain Defence Force Military of Yemen Pakistani military Tunisian Armed Forces Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces Royal Malaysian Army

North Thunder or (in Arabic: رعد الشمال) was a joint military exercise held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the participation of a 20 of Arab and Islamic countries notably Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar,Kuwait, Morocco, Chad, Comoro Islands,Tunisia, Oman, Malaysia and Yemen in February 2016.^[1]

Contents

  [hide] 

• 1Purpose
• 2Resources involved
• 3Manoeuvres executed
• 4See also
• 5References

Purpose[edit]

The exercise aimed to raise the technical and combat efficiency of the units involved and improve logistics and readiness rates for the implementation of joint security and stability missions in the region, notably Syria. ^[2] A spokesman for the Arab coalition forces, Ahmad Assiri, said the aim of the exercise is to achieve the highest level of preparedness, exchange expertise and promote coordination among the 21 participating countries.^[3]

It has also been suggested, considering the forces involved, that the exercise could be the beginning of a land assault on Syria in conjunction with the Turkish Land Forces invading Syria from the north. On 13 February The Independent reported that Saudi troops and fighter aircraft were deploying to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey in preparation for intervention in Syria,^[4]however this could simply indicate a Saudi recommitment to the Military intervention against ISIL which was downgraded following the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.^[5] Possible direct involvement in the war in Syria has unsettled many Saudis as the war in Yemen appears to be a stalemate and the Saudi economy has been affected by low oil prices.^[6]

Resources involved[edit]

According to unofficial sources, around 150,000 soldiers, 2,540 warplanes, 20,000 tanks, and 460 helicopters will participate in the largest military exercise in the history of the region.^[3][7] As the number of warplanes and tanks vastly exceeds the known inventories of all the countries involved, the figures appear to be exaggerated. David Weinberg, a senior fellow at theFoundation for Defense of Democracies, said that Riyadh's claims shouldn't be taken at face value.^[8] Jane's Defence Weeklynoted that based on official media releases the exercise appeared smaller than Bright Star 2000, which was held in Egypt in 1999 and involved around 73,000 troops from 11 countries. ^[9]

Manoeuvres executed[edit]

The exercise commenced on 14 February 2016 and would conclude on 10 March near King Khaled Military City in northeastern Saudi Arabia, with the participation of various military disciplines of artillery, tanks, and infantry, and air defense systems, naval forces.^[10]