Saud class Multi-Mission Surface Combatant MMSC Saudi Navy

Saudi Arabia / Royal Saudi Naval Forces
Saud class Multi-Mission Surface Combatant (MMSC)

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11/26

Ships:

Unit	Name	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	STATUS
820 HMS Saud		May 2021	December 20, 2025		launched
822 HMS Fahd		October 13, 2022			construction
824 HMS Abdullah		May 2023			construction
826 HMS Salman					construction

Specifications:

Builder: Fincantieri Marinette Marine, Wisconsin, USA

Displacement: 3,600 tons
Length: 118.6 meters (389 feet)
Beam: 17.6 m (57 ft 7 in)
Draft: 4.3 m (14 ft 1 in)
Speed: 30+ knots (55+ km/h)
Range: 5,000 NM (9,260 km)
Complement: 84 (core ship) +17 (air-detachment) + 29 additional embarked

Propulsion:
Combined Diesel and Gas (CODAG)
2 x Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbines (2 x 48,000 hp / 36 MW)
2 x diesel engines
4 x Rolls-Royce Kamewa waterjets; 2 steerable

Armament:

Mk.41 Vertical Launching System / VLS (8 cells)
for
MBDA Sea Ceptor (CAMM/CAMM-ER) SAM missiles
also compatible with RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM)
(quad-packed up to 32 missiles)

1 x BAE Systems Mk.110 57mm gun

1 x Mk.15 Mod.31 SeaRAM CIWS

2 x KNDS Narwhal 20 mm remote weapon stations (RWS)

2 x Mk.141 quad missile laucher for up to 8 x RGM-84 Harpoon Block II SSM

2 x Mk.32 triple torpedo tubes (324 mm/12,75") for Mk.54 Lightweight Torpedoes

Aviation:
flight deck and hangar for 1 x MH-60R Seahawk helicopter

Systems:
Lockheed Martin COMBATSS-21 Combat Management System (Aegis-derived)
Hensoldt TRS-4D active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar
Saab Ceros 200 fire control radar
Indra Rigel RESM electronic support measures / countermeasures system
Thales CAPTAS variable-depth sonar (VDS)
ALEX (Automatic Launch of Expandables) decoy launching system
AN/SLQ-25 Nixie towed torpedo decoy system

The Surface Combat Ship was offered to Saudi Arabia as part of a 2011 arms deal. The total cost for the eight ships was reported to be as much as $5 billion. The Saudi Naval Expansion Program II calls for some $20 billion for new warships, which can include up to 12 Freedom-class ships. The Saudis, as well as other potential foreign buyers, want permanent weapons capabilities built into the ship rather than interchangeable mission packages.

The Freedom class would be outfitted with vertical missile launchers and the SPY-1F radar, a smaller and lighter but shorter range version of Arleigh Burke's SPY-1D. A decision between the ships would be based on the desire for a large-hulled ship with a large missile defense system or a larger number of small-hulled multimission ships.

In October 2015, Saudi Arabia requested the sale of four Freedom class ships to update its eastern fleet in a potential $11.25 billion deal via FMS. A letter of offer and acceptance was signed by the US Navy and Saudi Arabia in May 2017. In March 2018, Lockheed Martin was awarded a $481 million contract by the Naval Sea Systems Command to support the construction of MMSCs and the steel-cutting ceremony took place in October 2019.

In December 2019, Lockheed Martin with Fincantieri Marinette Marine was awarded a $1.96 billion contract to provide detailed design and construction and the contract-related work is expected to be completed by June 2026. The Multi-Mission Surface Combatant (MMSC) variant does away with the LCS modular mission package ability and the forward two mission bays, but keeps the aft mission bay with a stern ramp. The requirement for an Aegis combat system was dropped for cost reasons and the ships will instead feature the Hensoldt TRS-4D AESA air search radar.

The first of four MMSC vessels for the Royal Saudi Navy, named Saud (820), was launched on December 16, 2025, at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard in Wisconsin.

Naming:

Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (سعود بن عبد العزيز آل سعود)
15 January 1902 - 23 February 1969 was King of Saudi Arabia from 9 November 1953 until his abdication on 2 November 1964

Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (فهد بن عبد العزيز آل سعود)
1920, 1921 or 1923 - 1 August 2005 was King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 13 June 1982 until his death in 2005

Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (عبد الله بن عبد العزيز آل سعود)
1 August 1924 - 23 January 2015 was King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 1 August 2005 until his death in 2015

Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (سلمان بن عبد العزيز آل سعود)
born 31 December 1935 is King of Saudi Arabia, having reigned since 2015

images

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820 HMS King Saud launched on December 20, 2025

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