Saudi frigate Al Riyadh

	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);
Armament	Anti-ship;; 16 × Aster anti-air missiles; 8 Exocet Anti-ship missiles; 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)

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

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

References

^ "Euronaval: Naval Group Starts Upgrade Work on la Fayette-class frigates". 23 October 2020.
^ "Al Riyadh (F3000S Sawari II) Class - Naval Technology".
^ "Al Riyadh (F3000S Sawari II) Class - Naval Technology".
^ ^a ^b "Al Riyadh (F3000S Sawari II) Class, Saudi Arabia". www.naval-technology.com. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
^ "Al Riyadh (F3000S Sawari II) Class - Naval Technology". www.naval-technology.com. Retrieved 2020-11-29.

[1] "Euronaval: Naval Group Starts Upgrade Work on la Fayette-class frigates". 23 October 2020.

[2] "Al Riyadh (F3000S Sawari II) Class - Naval Technology".

[3] "Al Riyadh (F3000S Sawari II) Class - Naval Technology".

[ntar-4] "Al Riyadh (F3000S Sawari II) Class, Saudi Arabia". www.naval-technology.com. Retrieved 30 October 2015.

[5] "Al Riyadh (F3000S Sawari II) Class - Naval Technology". www.naval-technology.com. Retrieved 2020-11-29.

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History
Al Riyadh at Toulon in 2005
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)