The Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF), or Royal Saudi Navy, is the maritime arm of the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces and one of the five service branches of the Ministry of Defense of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. Its primary role is monitoring and defending Saudi territorial waters, ensuring regional freedom of navigation, and protecting commercial sea routes through multinational naval coalitions. The Royal Saudi Navy is organized into two fleets: The Eastern Fleet, which operates in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

from the King Abdulaziz Naval Base at

Jubail Jubail (, ''Al Jubayl'') is a city in the Eastern province on the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, with a total population of 474,679 as of 2022. It is home to one of the largest industrial cities in the world. It is also home to the Middle ...

, and the Western Fleet, which operates in the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

from the King Faisal Naval Base at

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

. Each fleet has full military capability, including warships, support ships, administrative and technical support,

naval aviation Naval aviation / Aeronaval is the application of Military aviation, military air power by Navy, navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. It often involves ''navalised aircraft'', specifically designed for naval use. Seab ...

marines Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included Raid (military), raiding ashor ...

and special security units. Since the turn of the 21st century, the RSNF has undergone extensive efforts to expand and modernize its fleet, enhance its operational capabilities, and professionalize its personnel.

History

The navy was founded in 1960 and began a significant expansion with United States assistance in 1972, with the aim to match the Imperial Iranian Navy. Following the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

a further expansion programme, Sawari, was initiated with French assistance. Further vessels were purchased from Britain and France in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1980, U.S. defense contractor

Science Applications International Corporation Science Applications International Corporation, Inc. (SAIC) is an American technology company headquartered in Reston, Virginia that provides government services and information technology support. History 20th century The original SAIC was cr ...

began work with the Royal Saudi Navy to design and integrate the country's own command, control, and communications (C3) centers.

Ships

The navy is a modern force with foreign-built ships: * French-built

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

s and support vessels * U.S.-built

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

s and

patrol boat A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...

s * British-built s

Frigates

4 Multi-Mission Surface Combatant (MMSC) ordered by Royal Saudi Navy in 2019. The ship is derived from the Freedom-class littoral combat ship but with upgraded features. The deliveries of the MMSC will begin in June 2023. 3 ''Al Riyadh''-class frigates are modified versions of the (built by DCN, Lorient). Each has a fully loaded displacement of 4,725 tons, and is armed with eight MBDA

Exocet The Exocet () is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from Warship, surface vessels, Submarine, submarines, Helicopter, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Etymology The missile's name was given by M. Guil ...

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 Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter S.A., trade name, trading as Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturer, helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopte ...

AS 365 Dauphin or the larger AS 532 Cougar or

NH90 The NHIndustries NH90 is a European medium-sized, twin-engine, multirole military helicopter. It was the first production helicopter to feature entirely fly-by-wire flight controls.Perry, Dominic"Rotor club: Our top 10 most influential helico ...

helicopters. 4 ''Al Madinah''-class frigates based in the

, built in France ( Arsenal de Marine, Lorient (French Government Dockyard and CNIM, La Seyne) in the mid-1980s. Their full load displacement is 2,610 tons and they are armed with eight Otomat surface-to-surface missiles, one 8-cell Crotale surface-to-air missile launcher (26 missiles total), one 100 mm/44 dual-purpose gun, two 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, four torpedo tubes, an aft helicopter deck and hangar; one Dauphin helicopter. It was believed the Saudis intended to order two new British-built Type 45 destroyers, however production of the destroyers came to an end with no order made. Another destroyer that the Saudis are considering is the American built , 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.

Corvettes

5 Avante-class corvettes ordered by Royal Saudi Navy in 2018. The corvettes have been built by Spanish company

Navantia Navantia is a Spanish state-owned shipbuilding enterprise dedicated to civil and military naval construction, the design of deep-tech systems and the manufacture of structures for the renewable energy sector, such as offshore wind or hydrogen. ...

. 4 s built in the United States in 1981–83, based in the

, full load displacement of 1,038 tons, armament of eight Harpoon SSM, one 76 mm OTO Melara DP gun, one 20 mm

Phalanx CIWS The Phalanx CIWS () is an automated gun-based close-in weapon system to defend military watercraft automatically against incoming threats such as aircraft, missiles, and small boats. It was designed and manufactured by the General Dynamics Co ...

, two 20 mm guns, one 81 mm mortar, two 40 mm grenade launchers, two triple 12.75 inch torpedo tubes.

Patrol boats

24 Al Sadiq-class patrol boats built in the United States ( Peterson Builders, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin) 1972–1980, full load displacement of 495 tons, armed with four Harpoon SSM, one 76 mm OTO gun, one 20 mm Phalanx CIWS, two 20 mm guns, one 81 mm mortar, two 40 mm grenade launchers, two triple 12.75 inch torpedo tubes. * Possible sale of 30

Mark V Special Operations Craft The Mark V SOC (Special Operations Craft) was a marine security, patrol and special forces insertion boat used by the United States Navy and manufactured by VT Halter Marine Inc (Gulfport, Mississippi). It was introduced into service with the ...

Minesweepers

3 s (built by Vosper Thornycroft, Woolston), full load displacement of 480 tons:

Support vessels

2 French built (modified replenishment ships built by CN La Ciotat, with a helicopter deck aft and hangars for 2 helicopters.

Others

Many smaller patrol craft, two Danish-built royal yachts * ''Prince Abdul Aziz'' (1983–84) – built by Helsingør Værft * ''Al Yamana'' (Built for Iraq 1981; entered service in Saudi Arabia in 1988)

Naval aviation

Marines

The Royal Saudi Navy maintains two, 10,000-man marine brigades consisting of three battalions each. The brigades are assigned to the Western Fleet headquartered in Jeddah and the Eastern Fleet headquartered in Jubail. The brigades are equipped with 500 Pegaso BMR AFVs and HMMWVs.

Future

Germany will supply 48 patrol boats to Saudi Arabia within the framework of its border security project, a cost of 1.5 billion euros has been noted for this deal.

Lürssen Lürssen (or Lürssen Werft) is a German shipyard with headquarters in Bremen-Vegesack and shipbuilding facilities in Lemwerder, Berne and Bremen-Fähr-Lobbendorf. Lürssen designs and constructs yachts, naval ships and special vessels. Tradin ...

has already started building 15 patrol vessels for the project's first phase. The patrol boats to be procured under the current contract come in two forms. The first are the 'TNC 35' models, which are 35-meter-long and are propelled by two diesel engines with a combined output of 7,800 kilowatts. The boat can reach speeds of up to 40 knots. The second models, 'FPB 38' are 38-meter-long and can reach speeds of up to 31 knots. As of November 2016 1 TNC 35 has been delivered to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia wants to buy five German submarines for around €2.5 billion ($3.4 billion) and more than two dozen more in the future. In December 2014, the U.S. awarded

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

a contract for a Foreign Military Sale of the Mk 41 Vertical Launching System to Saudi Arabia. With no surface ships compatible with the Mk 41 and no plans to acquire a land-based missile defense system, this indicates the country is close to purchasing a VLS-equipped surface combatant. Saudi Arabia has evaluated the and the Multi-mission Combat Ship version of the able to carry a VLS. In October 2015, the US Congress was informed of a possible sale of Multi-Mission Surface Combatant (MMSC) Ships, a variant of the LCS. In July 2018 it was announced that

had signed an agreement with the Royal Saudi Navy for the production of 5 Avante 2000 Corvettes with the last to be delivered by 2022 at a cost of approximately 2 billion Euros. Saudi Arabia ordered three more Avante 2200 corvettes from Navantia in 2024.

Bases

(''Al-Qadima military port'')– Red Sea base home to 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 *

– Persian Gulf base is home to the navy's Eastern fleet; smaller base home to corvettes, replenishing ship remaining missile boats and minesweepers *

Dammam Dammam (Arabic: الدمام ad-Dammām) is a city and governorate, and the capital of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Located on the coast of the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 1,386,166 as of 2022, making it the country's fifth- ...

(''Ras Al-Ghar military port)'' – Persian Gulf home port for the Saudi Royal family's two Royal Yachts

Ranks

; Officer ranks ;Other ranks The rank insignia of

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

s and

enlisted personnel An enlisted rank (also known as an enlisted grade or enlisted rate) is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. The term can be inclusive of non-commissioned officers or warrant officers, except in United States ...

Incidents

On 30 January 2017 ''Al-Madinah'' was attacked by Houthi rebels using a suicide boat, killing 2 sailors and wounding 3 others. The attack took place near the port city of

Al Hudaydah Hodeidah (), also transliterated as Hodeda, Hodeida, Hudaida or al-Hudaydah, is the fourth-largest city in Yemen and its Hudaydah Port, principal port on the Red Sea and it is the centre of Al Hudaydah Governorate. As of 2023, it had an estimate ...

, 150 kilometers southwest of the Yemeni capital

Sana'a Sanaa, officially the Sanaa Municipality, is the ''de jure'' capital and largest city of Yemen. The city is the capital of the Sanaa Governorate, but is not part of the governorate, as it forms a separate administrative unit. At an elevation ...