It flew the second biggest number of sorties and missions in GW1 and earned respect in the region as an effective fighting force.
All due respect to the Royal Saudi Air Force, IMO its operations in the war against Iraq was not a real indicator of its actual abilities as the bulk of the target selection and strike planning for its combat sorties was done by the Americans. Pollack in his book also mentions that RSAF strikes were not as effective as other coalition aircraft in hitting their targets due to the inexperience of GR1 crews, which is understandable, and that the RSAF was given selected targets to hit. I'm surprised the RSAF generated the 2nd highest number of sorties as I would have thought this would have been done by the British and French but then again this could mean the total number of sorties flown during the conflict from the time of the military build up to Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait, including those that did not come under fire, such as CAPs.
I met alot Saudis here in the US and they are proud of there Armed Forces achievement especially the RSAF.
On paper, the RSAF is more than able to defend Saudi airspace against marauding Iranian aircraft and even launch strikes on its own, but after all the billions spent on new gear and training, this is only to be expected of it. The problem is, like all air arms, we'll only know how it'll actually perform when and if the balloon goes up. In the case of the RSAF, it will not be required to conduct operations on its own [I'm not saying it can't] as any war or skirmish with Iran, will involve support from the U.S. Political reasons, I believe was the main reason Saudi Arabia did not commit the RSAF to air operations over Libya, which was a shame as it would have gained more operational experience from it.
The regime is struggling with their profound economic and political failure and betrayal of a genuine popular revolution which they hijacked and perverted.
In summary, not a fan........
A large part of the population may be against the present leadership but they would unite if strikes were launched, irrespective of political differences. They see Western attempts at 'punishing ' Iran as being hypocritical and smacking of double standards. It's water under the bridge but if the U.S. and Iran had not backed a coup that overthrew a democratically elected leader [for which Obama apologised for recently], leading to the return of the Shah and in turn the rise of Khomeni, the situation with Iran would be very different now.