routers reporting iran is reporting a peace plan for yemen. the deal is expected to be presented to the united nations. iran has been backing yemen s houthi rebels who control key parts of the country including the capital of sanaa and saudi arabia s powerful military has joined the fight against the houthis. in the past few weeks hundreds have been killed in saudi air strikes on houthi positions. cnn was able to get a rare look inside the saudi war machine. our nic robertson has more. reporter: more cameras than tanks. for the first time since air strikes began, saudi arabia s army is giving access to journalists. for local reporters the army is a point of national pride. big guns.
banging out big shells into yemen. for now, this army standing back to fight. we don t have orders to move forward. right now we are in a defensive position. we don t have any order to go on the offensive for now. when it comes to sustaining the fight, saudi arabia has deep pockets. it s the world s third largest defense spender behind the united states and china. according to the institute of strategic studies, it spends 10% of gdp on defense. that s a massive $80.8 billion. the desert kingdom has more than 400,000 servicemen. 225,000 in the army 125,000 national guard, 30,000 each in the navy and air force, but is still looking for partners to bolster its coalition. pakistan recently declined a request for troops. on the static frontlines that we visited, looking down on to shut