The Royal Saudi Navy is the Naval force of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Royal Saudi
Navy is sometimes referred to as the RSNF. The Navy has about 50,000 officers and men,
including 12,000 Marines. The Naval headquarters is in Riyadh. The Western Fleet is based in
the Red Sea with the main base at Jeddah. The Eastern Fleet is based in the Persian
Gulf with the headquarters at Jubail. Other naval facilities were located at Yanbu, Dammam,
and Ras al Mishab.
History The Navy was founded in 1960 and began a significant
expansion with US assistance in 1972 aiming to match the Imperial Iranian Navy. Following
the Iranian Revolution a further expansion programme was initiated with French assistance,
this was the Sawari programme. 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 US built corvettes and patrol boats
British built Sandown class minehunters
Frigates 3 Al Riyadh class frigates are modified versions
of the La Fayette class frigate, have a fully loaded displacement of 4,725 tons, are 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, the main gun is the Oto Melara 76/62
Super Rapid, there are four 533mm 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. 4 Al Madinah class frigates ships based in
the Red Sea, built in France and CNIM, La Seyne) in mid 1980s, full load displacement
of 2,610 tons,armed with 8 Otomat SSM, 1 8-cell Crotale SAM, 1 100mm/44 DP, 2 40 mm AA, 4
torpedo tubes, aft helicopter deck and hangar; 1 Dauphin helicopter.
It was believed the Saudis intended to order two new British-built Type 45 Destroyers,
however production of the destroyers is now coming to an end and no order has been made.
Another Destroyer that the Saudis are considering is the American built Arleigh Burke class
destroyer, 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.
812 Al Riyadh 814 Makkah
816 Dammam 702 Al Madinah
704 Hofouf 706 Abha
708 Taif Corvettes
4 Badr class corvettes built in the United States built 1981–83, based in the Persian
Gulf, full load displacement of 1,038 tons, armament of 8 Harpoon SSM, 1 76 mm OTO DP,
1 20 mm Phalanx CIWS, 2 20 mm, 1 81 mm mortar, 2 40 mm grenade launchers, 2 triple
12.75 inch torpedo tubes 612 Badr
614 Al-Yarmook 616 Hitteen
618 Tabuk Patrol Boats
9 Al Sadiq class patrol boats built in the United States 1972–1980, full load displacement
of 495 tons, armed with 4 Harpoon SSM, 1 76 mm OTO, 1 20 mm Phalanx CIWS, 2 20 mm, 1 81 mm
mortar, 2 40 mm grenade launchers, 2 triple 12.75 inch torpedo tubes
511 As-Siddiq 513 Al-Farouq
515 Abdul-Aziz 517 Faisal
519 Khalid 521 Amr
523 Tariq 525 Ouqbah
527 Abu Obaidah Possible sale of 30 Mark V Special Operations
Craft Minesweepers
3 Sandown class minehunters, full load displacement of 480 tons:
420 Al Jawf 422 Shaqra
424 Al Kharj
Support Vessels 2 French built Boraida class small replishment
oilers, with a helicopter deck aft and hangars for 2 helicopters.
902 Boraida 904 Yunbou
Others Many smaller patrol craft, 2 Danish built
Royal yachts Prince Abdul Aziz – built by Helsingør
Værft Al Yamana
Naval Aviation Future
Saudi Arabia wants to buy five German submarines for around €2.5 billion and more than two
dozen more in the future Bases
Jeddah – Red Sea base home the navy's Western fleet for frigates and 2 missile boats, 1
replenishing ship and 1 patrol minesweeper; located north of the King Faisal Naval Base
air station and south of the container port area
Jubail – Persian Gulf base is home to the navy's Eastern fleet; smaller base home to
corvettes, replenishing ship remaining missile boats and minesweepers
Dammam – Persian Gulf home port for the Saudi Royal family's two Royal Yachts
Ranks Officers
Ensign Lieutenant Junior Grade
Lieutenant Lieutenant-Commander
Commander Captain
Commodore Rear-Admiral
Vice-Admiral Admiral
Enlisted Private
First Class Private Corporal
Vice Sergeant Sergeant
First Class Sergeant Master Sergeant
References
Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995 External links
RSNF official website GlobalSecurity.org RSNF web page