Significant Shift in France-Saudi Defense Cooperation

According to a report by Reference News on September 29, the French newspaper Le Monde reported on September 26 that in the past, defense cooperation between France and Saudi Arabia has always been low-key, with cautious public statements. On September 24, French President Macron announced that he would send "military forces" to Saudi Arabia to protect the Yanbu oil terminal. This terminal is the endpoint of the East-West oil pipeline and serves as the main alternative route for Saudi crude oil exports when the Strait of Hormuz is blocked. Although the scale of this military deployment is not yet clear, this statement marks a geopolitical shift.

According to reports, in response to the escalation of drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia and the impact of soaring oil prices on the purchasing power of the French public, Macron chose to break with previous diplomatic caution. In an interview with French media, he stated that he would deploy "soldiers, radar, and defense systems."

Reports indicate that the French side has not provided any details regarding the number of soldiers involved, the systems to be deployed, or when they will be operational.

The French military general staff stated on the 25th: "Our actions in the region strictly adhere to a defensive logic, aimed at maintaining regional stability while protecting our national interests and those of our partners."

There remains considerable uncertainty about how France's deployment will materialize. The most critical need in responding to conflicts related to Iran is air defense support, which happens to be a relatively weak area for the French military. France has already initiated reinforcement work based on military planning legislation, but the delivery schedule for new radars and next-generation surface-to-air missile systems is very tight: official estimates suggest delivery between 2026 and 2027.

France's decision to send military forces to Saudi Arabia stems from the current urgent situation. Although Saudi Arabia has been under attack since the beginning of the conflict, the attacks escalated starting September 3: on that day, the Houthi forces in Yemen launched a large-scale offensive against the Yemeni government forces allied with Saudi Arabia. On September 10, the East-West oil pipeline was also attacked by Iraqi armed groups, leading to a shutdown of the pipeline, which transports some Saudi crude oil to Europe.

Since July 20, Saudi Arabia has also faced a maritime blockade by Houthi forces. Caught in a pincer movement in this regional conflict, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sought assistance from his traditional primary security partner, the United States, multiple times between September 10 and 17. Since early 2026, the U.S. has increased the deployment of air defense equipment to the country. However, recently, U.S. President Trump has been reluctant to engage in direct military intervention, preferring to maintain official support at the intelligence level.

Reports indicate that France's dispatch of military forces coincides with Saudi Arabia's search for new partnerships.

Camille Lons, a Gulf expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said: "Saudi Arabia feels somewhat abandoned by its American partners."

However, Hesham Ghanem, a researcher at the Carnegie Middle East Center, is relatively cautious, believing that this is primarily "a rational response, rather than any sign of a rupture."

Andreas Krieg, a scholar at King's College London, analyzed: "Saudi Arabia's goal is not to replace one form of dependency with another, but to establish multiple overlapping partnerships to acquire different types of combat capabilities. Intelligence can tell you where the threat is coming from, but it cannot intercept missiles. Saudi Arabia hopes that France can fill this gap."

The Élysée Palace has seized this opportunity. Didier Billion, a geopolitical expert at the French Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies, stated that French diplomats and military officials have long hoped to rebuild a more solid and sustainable relationship with Riyadh.

In the past, Franco-Saudi defense cooperation was largely limited to personnel training, a small number of joint exercises, and significant arms sales, never having signed a formal defense agreement like that between France and the United Arab Emirates.

Camille Lons believes that there has long been a mindset in France that "we should not put all our chips on the UAE, but rather develop diversified cooperation with Saudi Arabia, this regional power."

However, in recent years, public outcry from civil organizations and media revelations have severely impacted Franco-Saudi cooperation. Reports have accused France of exporting weapons to Saudi Arabia that are not solely for "defensive purposes." After Saudi Arabia intervened in the Yemeni civil war in 2015 and the Houthis occupied the Yemeni capital, France continued to maintain arms exports to Saudi Arabia. In 2019, investigative media outlet "Disclose" revealed that French weapons were being used extensively in the Yemeni conflict. The 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi also caused a rift in relations between France and Saudi Arabia.

Analysts believe that Macron's announcement of sending new military forces is akin to revisiting old accounts, attempting to position himself as a guarantor of the security of Saudi Arabia's energy infrastructure, which is precisely the signal that Saudi Arabia hopes to convey.

However, as the French presidential election campaign kicks off, this military reinforcement has been condemned by the "Unyielding France" party and the National Rally. (Translated by Pan Ge Ping)