Royal Saudi Navy


The Royal Saudi Navy or Royal Saudi Naval Forces, is the maritime arm of the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces and one of the five service branches of the Ministry of Defense of Saudi Arabia. Its primary role is monitoring and defending the Saudi territorial waters against military or economic intrusion, and participating in international naval alliances.
The Navy operates from multiple bases along the Saudi coastline, with two fleets.
Each fleet has a full military capability including warships, support ships, administrative and technical support, naval aviation, marines and special security units.

History

The Navy was founded in 1957 and began a significant expansion with United States assistance in 1972 aiming to match the Imperial Iranian Navy. Following the Iranian Revolution a further expansion programme, Sawari, was initiated with French assistance. Further vessels were purchased from Britain and France in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1980, U.S. defense contractor Science Applications International Corporation began work with the Royal Saudi Navy to design and integrate the country's own command, control, and communications centers.

Ships

The navy is a modern force with foreign built ships:
Three frigates are modified versions of the . Each has a fully loaded displacement of 4,725 tons, and is armed with eight MBDA Exocet MM40 Block II surface-to-surface missiles, two eight-cell Sylver vertical launch systems for the Eurosam Aster 15 surface-to-air missile, an Oto Melara 76 mm/62 Super Rapid gun, and four 533 mm aft torpedo tubes. The ships are armed with the DCNS F17 heavyweight anti-submarine torpedo. The helicopter deck at the stern has a single landing spot for a medium size helicopter, such as the Eurocopter AS 365 Dauphin or the larger AS 532 Cougar or NH90 helicopters.
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812DCN Lorient2002In active service
814DCN Lorient2003In active service
816DammamDCN Lorient2004In active service

Four Al Madinah-class frigates based in the Red Sea, built in France in the mid-1980s. Their full load displacement is 2,610 tons and they are armed with eight Otomat surface-to-surface missiles, one 8-cell Crotale surface-to-air missile launcher, one 100 mm/44 dual purpose gun, two 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, four torpedo tubes, an aft helicopter deck and hangar; one Dauphin helicopter.
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702Al MadinahArsenal de Lorient4 January 1985In active service
704HofoufCNIM, La Seyne31 October 1985In active service
706AbhaCNIM, La Seyne4 April 1986In active service
708TaifCNIM, La Seyne29 August 1986In active service

It was believed the Saudis intended to order two new British-built Type 45 destroyers, however production of the destroyers came to an end with no order made. Another destroyer that the Saudis are considering is the American built, having been briefed by the US Navy in May 2011 on the acquisition of two destroyers in a package that also includes an unknown number of Littoral Combat Ships.

Corvettes

4 s built in the United States in 1981–83, based in the Persian Gulf, full load displacement of 1,038 tons, armament of eight Harpoon SSM, one 76 mm OTO Melara DP gun, one 20 mm Phalanx CIWS, two 20 mm guns, one 81 mm mortar, two 40 mm grenade launchers, two triple 12.75 inch torpedo tubes
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612BadrTacoma Boatbuilding1981In active service
614Al-YarmookTacoma Boatbuilding1982In active service
616HitteenTacoma Boatbuilding1982In active service
618TabukTacoma Boatbuilding1983In active service

Patrol boats

9 Al Sadiq-class patrol boats built in the United States 1972–1980, full load displacement of 495 tons, armed with four Harpoon SSM, one 76 mm OTO gun, one 20 mm Phalanx CIWS, two 20 mm guns, one 81 mm mortar, two 40 mm grenade launchers, two triple 12.75 inch torpedo tubes
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511As-Siddiq Peterson Builders1980In active service
513Al-Farouq Peterson Builders1981In active service
515Abdul-AzizPeterson Builders1981In active service
517FaisalPeterson Builders1981In active service
519KhalidPeterson Builders1982In active service
521AmrPeterson Builders1982In active service
523TariqPeterson Builders1982In active service
525OuqbahPeterson Builders1982In active service
527Abu ObaidahPeterson Builders1982In active service

3 s, full load displacement of 480 tons:
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420Al JawfVosper Thornycroft1991In active service
422ShaqraVosper Thornycroft1993In active service
424Al KharjVosper Thornycroft1994In active service

Support vessels

2 French built underway in the Red Sea, in 1991.jpg|200x200px902BoraidaVosper Thornycroft1984In active service904YunbouVosper Thornycroft1985In active service

Others

Many smaller patrol craft, two Danish-built royal yachts

Marines

The Royal Saudi Navy maintains two, 1,500-man marine brigades consisting of three battalions each. The brigades are assigned to the Western Fleet headquartered in Jeddah and the Eastern Fleet headquartered in Jubail. The brigades are equipped with 200 Pegaso BMR AFVs and HMMWVs.

Future

Germany will supply 48 patrol boats to Saudi Arabia within the framework of its border security project, a cost of 1.5 billion euros has been noted for this deal. Lürssen has already started building 15 patrol vessels for the project's first phase. The patrol boats to be procured under the current contract come in two forms. The first are the 'TNC 35' models, which are 35-meter-long and are propelled by two diesel engines with a combined output of 7,800 kilowatts. The boat can reach speeds of up to 40 knots. The second models, 'FPB 38' are 38-meter-long and can reach speeds of up to 31 knots. As of November 2016 1 TNC 35 has been delivered to Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia wants to buy five German submarines for around €2.5 billion and more than two dozen more in the future.
In December 2014, the U.S. awarded Lockheed Martin a contract for a Foreign Military Sale of the Mk 41 Vertical Launching System to Saudi Arabia. With no surface ships compatible with the Mk 41 and no plans to acquire a land-based missile defense system, this indicates the country is close to purchasing a VLS-equipped surface combatant. Saudi Arabia has evaluated the and the Multi-mission Combat Ship version of the able to carry a VLS. In October 2015, the US Congress was informed of a possible sale of Multi-Mission Surface Combatant Ships, a variant of the LCS.
In July 2018 it was announced that Navantia had signed an agreement with the Royal Saudi Navy for the production of 5 Avante 2000 Corvettes with the last to be delivered by 2022 at a cost of approximately 2 billion Euros.

Bases

; Officers
; Enlisted
On 30 January 2017 Al-Madinah was attacked by Houthi rebels using a suicide boat, killing 2 sailors and wounding 3 others. The attack took place near the port city of Al Hudaydah, 150 kilometers southwest of the Yemeni capital Sana'a.