Saudi frigate Al Riyadh

Al Riyadh (812) is an Al Riyadh-class frigate of the Royal Saudi Navy.

Al Riyadh at Toulon in 2005
History
Saudi Arabia
Name	Al Riyadh (الرياض)
Namesake	Al Riyadh
Builder	Direction des Constructions Navales (DCNS), Lorient
Laid down	28 May 1999
Launched	1 August 2000
Commissioned	26 July 2002
Homeport	King Faisal Naval Base
Identification	Pennant number: 812
Status	Active
General characteristics
Class and type	Al Riyadh-class frigate
Displacement	4,700 tonnes
Length	133 m (436 ft 4 in)
Beam	15.4 m (50 ft 6 in)
Draught	4.1 m (13 ft 5 in)
Propulsion	4 diesel SEMT Pielstick 12PA6V280 STC2, 21,000 hp (16,000 kW)
Speed	24.5 knots (45.4 km/h; 28.2 mph)
Range	7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi)
Endurance	50 days of food
Boats & landing craft carried	2 × ETN boats
Capacity	350 tonnes of fuel, 80 m3 (2,800 cu ft) of kerosene, 60 tonnes of potable water
Complement	12 officers 68 petty officers 61 enlisted
Sensors and processing systems	1 × DRBN34 navigation radar 1 × DRBN34 landing radar 1 × Air/Surface DRBV 15C sentry radar 1 × firing control radar for the 100 mm gun 1 × CN2 firing control radar 1 × Saïgon ARBG 1 radio interceptor 1 × ARBR 21 radar interceptor 2 × Dagaie Mk2 AMGL-1C chaff launcher 1 × AN/SLQ-25 Nixie tugged noise maker 1 × Prairie-Masker noise reduction system 1 × Integrated Shipboard Communication System ISCS (SNTI 120 ch.) 1 × SEAO/OPSMER Naval command support system 1 × Syracuse II satellite transmission system 1 × Inmarsat navigation system 1 x BlueWatcher sonar (Surcouf only)[1]
Armament	Anti-ship; 16 × Aster anti-air missiles[2] 8 Exocet Anti-ship missiles[3] 4 x F17 torpedoes Guns; 1 × 100 mm TR automatic gun
Armour	On sensitive areas (munition magazine and control centre)
Aircraft carried	1 × helicopter (Panther or NH90)

Development and design

Al Riyadh is an expanded anti-air version of the French La Fayette class, displacing about 4,700 t (5,181 short tons) and extended to 133 m (436 ft 4 in) in length.^[4]

The frigate's combat system, produced by Armaris (a Direction des Constructions Navales/Thales Group joint venture), is armed with Aster 15 surface-to-air missiles (SAM) launched from SYLVER vertical launchers (SYLVER - SYstème de Lancement VERtical). As with the La Fayette class, the primary offensive weapon is the anti-surface Exocet missile. The main gun of the Al Riyadh frigates is the OTO Melara 76 mm super-rapid firing gun replacing the modèle 100 TR automatic gun of the La Fayette class. There are also four aft-mounted 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes, firing DTCN F17 heavyweight anti-submarine torpedoes. Al Riyadh is capable of a maximum speed of ~46 kilometres per hour (25 kn; 29 mph) with a maximum range of 13,000 kilometres (7,019 nmi; 8,078 mi).^[4][5]

Construction and career

Al Riyadh was launched on 1 August 2000 at the DCNS dockyard in Lorient and commissioned on 26 July 2002.

Al Riyadh-class frigates

Three Al Riyadh class frigates have been built:

Al Riyadh (812)

the lead ship commissioned in 2002

Makkah (814)

commissioned in 2004

Al Dammam (816)

commissioned in 2004