Saudi Arabia announced today, Friday, the organization of a military maneuver with the United States titled "Shield of Prevention 4," aimed at "enhancing the capabilities of participants to confront the threats of weapons of mass destruction." This was stated in a press release from the Saudi Ministry of Defense, which did not specify the start date or the number of participating troops.
According to the statement, "The Eastern Region Command in Dhahran executed the Saudi-American joint exercise Shield of Prevention 4." The maneuvers involved "branches of the Saudi Armed Forces, the U.S. Central Command, and several civil and military government entities in the Kingdom."
Colonel Turki Al-Samiri, the commander of the mixed battalion participating in the exercise, confirmed that "the joint Shield of Prevention 4 exercise aims to enhance the capabilities of participants to confront the threats of weapons of mass destruction," according to the statement.
It also aims to "unify the concepts, procedures, and necessary skills among the Saudi Armed Forces, the participating government entities, and the American side, as well as to increase awareness of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear risks," Al-Samiri stated.
He added that "the participating units conducted field training to test the readiness of national response plans regarding weapons of mass destruction and to measure the effectiveness of information and report exchanges during the exercise."
According to the same statement, the exercise also "involved the use of simulated ammunition to carry out crisis management operations resulting from the use of weapons of mass destruction." This exercise comes about two years after Saudi Arabia hosted the third edition of "Shield of Prevention 3" in January 2022.
