Royal Saudi Navy


The Royal Saudi Naval Forces ,'' or Royal Saudi Navy, 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 Saudi territorial waters, ensuring regional freedom of navigation, and protecting commercial sea routes through multinational naval coalitions.
The Royal Saudi Navy is organized into two fleets: The Eastern Fleet, which operates in the Persian Gulf from the King Abdulaziz Naval Base at Jubail, and the Western Fleet, which operates in the Red Sea from the King Faisal Naval Base at Jeddah. Each fleet has full military capability, including warships, support ships, administrative and technical support, naval aviation, marines and special security units.
Since the turn of the 21st century, the RSNF has undergone extensive efforts to expand and modernize its fleet, enhance its operational capabilities, and professionalize its personnel.

History

The navy was founded in 1960 and began a significant expansion with United States assistance in 1972, with the aim 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:
  • French-built frigates and support vessels
  • U.S.-built corvettes and patrol boats
  • British-built s

    Frigates

4 Multi-Mission Surface Combatant ordered by Royal Saudi Navy in 2019. The ship is derived from the Freedom-class littoral combat ship but with upgraded features. The deliveries of the MMSC will begin in June 2023.
Marinette MarineOn order
Marinette MarineOn order
Marinette MarineOn order
Marinette MarineOn order

3 Al Riyadh-class 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.
812DCN Lorient2002In active serviceRiyadh City
814DCN Lorient2003In active serviceMakkah City
816DammamDCN Lorient2004In active serviceDammam City

4 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.
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

5 Avante-class corvettes ordered by Royal Saudi Navy in 2018. The corvettes have been built by Spanish company Navantia.
828Al JubailNavantia2022In active serviceAl Jubail City
830Al DiriyahNavantia2022In active serviceAl Diriyah City
832HailNavantia2022In active serviceHail City
834JazanNavantia2023In active serviceJazan City
836UnaizahNavantia2024In active serviceUnaizah City

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.
612BadrTacoma Boatbuilding1981In active service
614Al YarmookTacoma Boatbuilding1982In active service
616HitteenTacoma Boatbuilding1982In active service
618TabukTacoma Boatbuilding1983In active service

Patrol boats

24 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.
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:
420Al JawfVosper Thornycroft1991In active service
422ShaqraVosper Thornycroft1993In active service
424Al KharjVosper Thornycroft1994In active service

Support vessels

2 French built (modified replenishment ships built by CN La Ciotat, with a helicopter deck aft and hangars for 2 helicopters.
902BoraidaCN La Ciotat1984In active service
904YunbouCN La Ciotat1985In active service

Others

Many smaller patrol craft, two Danish-built royal yachts
  • Prince Abdul Aziz – built by Helsingør Værft
  • ''Al Yamana''

    Naval aviation

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 500 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.
Saudi Arabia ordered three more Avante 2200 corvettes from Navantia in 2024.