ARFF Crash Tenders & Rapid Intervention Vehicles installations at King Khalid International Airport (RUH)

The core airport firefighting fleet: purpose-built crash tenders in 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8 configurations carrying large water and foam payloads, plus lighter rapid intervention vehicles (RIVs) for first-response inside the mandated time window. These platforms anchor an airport's declared ICAO rescue and firefighting category — CAT-9/CAT-10 for A380 and 777X operations. Procurement is led by airport operations and civil aviation authorities against strict response-time, discharge-rate and reserve-vehicle rules, and increasingly weighs electric and hybrid drivelines. Also covers OEM spare parts and contracted RFFS operation of the fleet.

A sprawling 1980s-era masterplan set in desert pink sandstone, RUH was designed by HOK when Riyadh was still a secondary capital. Four decades later, the city has outgrown it. Terminals 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 now share the load as traffic hit 37.2 million in 2024, and new carrier Riyadh Air prepares to launch before the airport itself is eclipsed by King Salman International just across town.