Saudi frigate Makkah

Makkah (814) is an Al Riyadh-class frigate of the Royal Saudi Navy and was built in France.

Makkah at Toulon in 2005
History
Saudi Arabia
Name	Makkah (مكة المكرمة)
Namesake	Makkah
Builder	Direction des Constructions Navales (DCNS), Lorient
Laid down	8 August 2000
Launched	20 July 2001
Commissioned	3 April 2004
Homeport	King Faisal Naval Base
Identification	Pennant number: 814
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 men
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
Armament	16 × Aster anti-air missiles[1] 8 Exocet Anti-ship missiles[2] 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

The frigate Makkah, 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.^[3]

The ships' 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 ships' main gun is the OTO Melara 76 mm super-rapid firing gun replacing the modèle 100 TR automatic gun of the La Fayette. There are also four aft-mounted 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes, firing DTCN F17 heavyweight anti-submarine torpedoes. Makkah is capable of a maximum speed of ~46 kilometres per hour (29 mph; 25 kn) with a maximum range of 13,000 kilometres (8,078 mi; 7,019 nmi).^[3][4]

Construction and career

Makkah was launched on 20 July 2001 at the DCNS dockyard in Lorient and commissioned on 3 April 2004.

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