Royal Saudi Navy
| Royal Saudi Arabian Navy | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Founded | May 8, 1796; (220 years) |
| Country | Saudi Arabia |
| Allegiance | Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques |
| Branch |
 Saudi Military Forces (as of 1919) |
| Type | Navy |
| Size |
|
| Part of | |
| Headquarters | «Airport Rd, Riyadh» |
| Nickname(s) | RSNF |
| Anniversaries | May 25; (97 years) |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Chief of Naval Staff | Vice Admiral Abdullah Al Sultan |
| Insignia | |
| Ensign |  |
| Jack | |
| Naval base flag |  |
| Air Royal Navy emblem |
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The Royal Saudi Naval Forces is the Naval force of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, sometimes referred to as the RSNF (Royal Saudi Naval Forces). The Navy has more than 70,000 officers and men, including 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 headquarters at Jubail. Other naval facilities were located at Yanbu, Dammam, and Ras Mishab.
The Navy was founded in 1957 and began a significant expansion with United States 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 (C3) centers.
The navy is a modern force with foreign built ships:
Three Al Riyadh-class frigates are modified versions of the La Fayette-class frigate (built by DCN, Lorient). Each has a fully loaded displacement of 4,725 tons, and is armed with eight MBDA Exocet MM40 Block II surface-to-surface missiles (SSM), two eight-cell Sylver vertical launch systems for the Eurosam (MBDA and Thales) Aster 15 surface-to-air missile (SAM), 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.
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Wikipedia