This article needs to be updated.(March 2021) |
Umm Al Melh Border Guards Airport مطار سلاح الحدود أم الملح | |||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||
Operator | General Directorate of Border Guards | ||||||||||
Location | Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia | ||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 778 ft / 237 m | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 19°06′56″N 50°07′44″E / 19.115672°N 50.128890°E | ||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||
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Umm Al Melh Border Guards Airport ( Arabic: مطار سلاح الحدود أم الملح) is a Saudi government air base located in southwestern Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia.
The air base was commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior in November 2010 as a base of operations for the Border Guards to patrol the country's southern border. [1] [2] It is part of a proposed network of air bases that would serve as transport, logistical support and evacuation centers for the Border Guards. [2] The base is under construction in the vast Rub' al Khali desert about 43 kilometres (27 mi) from the Yemeni border by the Abdullah A. M. Al-Khodari Sons Company. The first phase of the project was completed for SR 86.3 million. [1] The second phase was commissioned in August 2011 at a cost of SR 120.7 million. [3]
In February 2013, Wired magazine suggested the air base may be a secret U.S. drone base used to carry out drone strikes on targets in Yemen, including the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki in 2011. [4] Although Wired was unable to confirm the claim, both Foreign Policy and Haaretz reported that it was "almost certainly" the secret base. [5] [6] The existence of a Central Intelligence Agency-run drone base in southern Saudi Arabia had been revealed by U.S newspapers two days earlier. [7] [8] [9] Satellite imagery of 22 January 2023 in Google Earth shows a drone with the shape and dimensions of an MQ-9 "Reaper" parked in front of the hangars.
This article needs to be updated.(March 2021) |
Umm Al Melh Border Guards Airport مطار سلاح الحدود أم الملح | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Summary | |||||||||||
Operator | General Directorate of Border Guards | ||||||||||
Location | Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia | ||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 778 ft / 237 m | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 19°06′56″N 50°07′44″E / 19.115672°N 50.128890°E | ||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||
|
Umm Al Melh Border Guards Airport ( Arabic: مطار سلاح الحدود أم الملح) is a Saudi government air base located in southwestern Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia.
The air base was commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior in November 2010 as a base of operations for the Border Guards to patrol the country's southern border. [1] [2] It is part of a proposed network of air bases that would serve as transport, logistical support and evacuation centers for the Border Guards. [2] The base is under construction in the vast Rub' al Khali desert about 43 kilometres (27 mi) from the Yemeni border by the Abdullah A. M. Al-Khodari Sons Company. The first phase of the project was completed for SR 86.3 million. [1] The second phase was commissioned in August 2011 at a cost of SR 120.7 million. [3]
In February 2013, Wired magazine suggested the air base may be a secret U.S. drone base used to carry out drone strikes on targets in Yemen, including the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki in 2011. [4] Although Wired was unable to confirm the claim, both Foreign Policy and Haaretz reported that it was "almost certainly" the secret base. [5] [6] The existence of a Central Intelligence Agency-run drone base in southern Saudi Arabia had been revealed by U.S newspapers two days earlier. [7] [8] [9] Satellite imagery of 22 January 2023 in Google Earth shows a drone with the shape and dimensions of an MQ-9 "Reaper" parked in front of the hangars.