Missile Launcher Contract Gives Hints to Saudi Arabia’s Naval Expansion

[Gasoline]

Missile Launcher Contract Gives Hints to Saudi Arabia’s Naval Expansion



Tomahawk cruise missile launched from a MK 41 VLS tube on the USS Farragut (DDG-99) US Navy Photo

A little noticed December contract award for the missile launchers used as part of the U.S. Navy’s Aegis Combat System gives hints to the direction of a potential $20 billion U.S. naval arms sale to Saudi Arabia.

Included in the initial $235 million award from Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) — with options to increase the award to $356.79 million — to Lockheed Martin for an unspecified number of MK 41 Vertical Launching Systems included a contract option to set aside 26.3 percent of the funds — or about $93.8 million of the $356.79 million — for Saudi Arabian VLS.

“The MK 41 VLS provides a missile launching system for [Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers (CG-47)] and [Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer (DDG 51)] class surface combatants, surface combatants of allied navies, and Aegis Ashore requirements for the Missile Defense Agency’s Ground Ballistic Missile Defense Program,” read the Dec. 12 award announcement.

They are in wide use by U.S. allies around the world.

Capable of firing several missile types — most notably the Raytheon series of Standard Missiles — the system is on use on close to 190 ships in 19 classes, according to information from Lockheed Martin.

Saudis currently don’t use the MK 41, instead relying on a French system in their Al Riyadh-class of frigates


Royal Saudi Navy frigate, HMS Al Riyadh (812)

Officials with Lockheed Martin referred comment on the award to the Navy.

A spokeswoman with the Navy International Program Office (NIPO) told USNI News this week that, “it is not our policy to discuss the specifics of foreign military sales (FMS) cases.”

For almost seven years Saudi Arabia has been in negotiations with the U.S. to upgrade the Royal Saudi Navy’s Eastern Fleet, composed of aging American-built ships, as part of the Saudi Naval Expansion Program (SNEP II).

“This massive purchase could include destroyers, patrol craft, helicopters, ground vehicles and other platforms, as well as warehouses and substantial upgrades to port infrastructure. The requirements are still being developed, but recent estimates values the overall program at around $20 billion,” according to an October U.S. Army Corps of Engineers presentation.

Ship types the U.S. could sell to the Saudis include an anti-air warfare (AAW) capable version of the Freedom or Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship or a ballistic missile defense (BMD) capable Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer (DDG-51) have been mentioned as possible contenders for the SNEP-II combatant.


A Lockheed Martin concept for variations of the Freedom-class LCS design from corvette to Frigate sized hulls. Lockheed Martin Photo

Both LCS builders, Lockheed Martin and Austal USA, have said they have variants of their hulls that can accommodate a MK 41 and a smaller SPY-1F AAW radar.

In 2011, the U.S. Navy briefed kingdom officials on the capabilities of the Arleigh Burke,according to a report in Defense News.

Since then, little information has been released on the program.

The following is the Dec. 12, 2014 contract award to Lockheed Martin for the MK 41 VLS.

Lockheed Martin Corp., Mission Systems and Training, Baltimore, Maryland, is being awarded a $235,329,189 firm-fixed-price contract for MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) electronic and mechanical modules and related equipment. The MK 41 VLS provides a missile launching system for CG 47 and DDG 51 class surface combatants, surface combatants of allied navies, and Aegis Ashore requirements for the Missile Defense Agency’s Ground Ballistic Missile Defense Program. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $356,794,617. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. Navy (69.5 percent) and the governments of Saudi Arabia (26.3 percent) and Norway (4.2 percent) under the Foreign Military Sales Program. Work will be performed in Baltimore, Maryland (95.1 percent); Orlando, Florida (4 percent); and Clearwater, Florida (0.9 percent), and is expected to be completed by March 2022. Fiscal 2013 and 2014 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); fiscal 2014 Defense-wide procurement funds; fiscal 2014 other procurement (Navy); and fiscal 2014 research, development, test and evaluation funding in the amount of $235,329,189 will be obligated at time of award. Funds in the amount of $240,287 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online and Federal Business Opportunities websites, with two offers received. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-15-C-5332)



Missile Launcher Contract Gives Hints to Saudi Arabia’s Naval Expansion - USNI News

 

[al-Hasani]

Very interesting.

Nice share bro!

No doubt that the navy is in dire need of improvement. Criminally underdeveloped considering that we have one of the longest coastlines out there, that we are located on the biggest peninsula in the world and bordering the Red Sea, Gulf and from there having very close access to the nearby Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.

Not to mention the importance of securing the oil and gas fields on the sea.

The GCC as a whole is working towards strengthening the navies which is long overdue. Better late than never though.

GCC Naval Group To Focus on Coastal Threats

Gulf Presence: Kuwaiti Navy missile attack ship Al Fahaheel participates with Combined Task Force 523 during the International Mine Countermeasures Exercise 2013. Gulf Cooperation Council states are proposing a joint naval force. (Gary M. Keen/ / AFP)​

Oct. 18, 2014
By AWAD MUSTAFA

DUBAI — The Gulf Cooperation Council’s planned maritime security force — announced last week at a conference in Qatar — will most likely focus on coastal interdictions and counterterrorism operations and be less of a “blue water navy,” according to a regional expert.

Maj. Gen. Ahmed Yousif al-Mulla, assistant to the Kuwaiti defense minister, announced the formation of a GCC naval force on the sidelines of the Qatar Maritime Security Conference in Doha last week.

The new force is expected to be formed in the “coming months,” Mulla said, and military officials from the six GCC nations of Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates were still working out details for the naval force.

The size of the force will depend on the “level of external threats for gulf marine security,” he was quoted by AFP as saying.

The force is being formed in response to foreign intervention in the region, said Ahmed al-Attar, assistant director for defense and security at the Delma Institute in Abu Dhabi.

“This force is most likely being formed in response to what has happened in Yemen with the surge of Houthi armament and in Bahrain with opposition members receiving explosives and weapons,” he said.

“The main supply routes are through the sea and the flow of smuggled Iranian weapons into the region is a major cause for concern for security of the region,” he added.

The force, Attar said, is expected to mainly conduct naval interdiction missions, stopping illegal drugs and weapons shipment.

“It will consist mainly of interdiction vessels and patrol vessels and will be more of a coast guard than a real blue water navy, I expect,” he said.

In his statement, Mulla said the force will also be involved in counterterrorism operations. The announcement, he added, will be in the coming months and the force will be called Maritime Security Group 81.

Mulla added that the force will be established in line with the Peninsula Shield Force that was established in 1982.

The GCC maritime force comes after a string of radical announcements by the group to create a Joint Military Command in December last year.

The GCC Joint Military Command was also expected to have a force of 100,000 members, said Prince Miteb Bin Abdullah, Saudi Arabia’s minister of the National Guard.

“There will be a unified command of around 100,000 members, God willing. I hope it will happen soon, and the National Guard is ready for anything that is asked of it,” Miteb was quoted as saying by the Saudi Press Agency this year.

The announcement of the command was backed by US President Barack Obama who issued a directive to Congress to facilitate GCC defense article sales and defense services under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Arms Export Control Act.

GCC Naval Group To Focus on Coastal Threats | Defense News | defensenews.com

 

[black-hawk_101]

KSA should look towards doing JV in Naval sector with EU. And for Cruise missiles its better to go for Pak options.