Saudi Arabia Set to Buy Four Lockheed Martin Freedom-Class Variants in $11.25B Deal

[Indika]

2.7 Billion for each ship??? WTF????

Each ship is 360 million as per LM website. What else they got with it or is the ship is made out of gold?

America is milking the Saudis.

Why do you think americans support saudi ? To buy all their junk and invest ill gotten wealth back into US.

 

[Oublious]

Waste of money...

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Hmm...I wonder if the U.S. Navy is going to switch to all Independence-class littoral combat ship - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and Lockheed is trying to recover some of their R&D investment designing the Freedom-class littoral combat ship - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Pandora]

Looks like Saudis Havant heard the word negotiations. Such an under armed ship with no potential use in Modern day wars. Its their money they can even use it as a toilet paper. Same amount of money could have been used to end poverty in Third world countries such a sad wastage of resources.

 

[black-hawk_101]

They might be buying the bigger ones. But its better for them to buy 3 or 4 of each type shown in the pictures.

 

[Penguin]

2.7 Billion for each ship??? WTF????

Each ship is 360 million as per LM website. What else they got with it or is the ship is made out of gold?

America is milking the Saudis.

There is a difference between the value/price of a ship and a package that may include: additional ordnance supply, spare parts, training, maintenance etc over multiple years.

 

[karakoram]

In 11 billion they could buy a medium size aircraft carrier

 

[Indika]

In 11 billion they could buy a medium size aircraft carrier

Operating that carrier would need more professionally experienced force. Again they will have to need other supporting vessels not to mention the running cost. Even militarily they are only fighting yemen which is nearby not farway for power projection.

 

[MilSpec]

Quite overpriced,

 

[masud]

There is a difference between the value/price of a ship and a package that may include: additional ordnance supply, spare parts, training, maintenance etc over multiple years.

sir, it does not need to be an expert to feel some thing wrong in this dill

 

[Skywalker]

arey bhai inko chalaey ga kaun.

 

[Penguin]

sir, it does not need to be an expert to feel some thing wrong in this dill

In 11 billion they could buy a medium size aircraft

Four Lockheed Martin Freedom-class ship variants are set to form the backbone of the Royal Saudi Navy’s Eastern Fleet as part of a $11.25 billion foreign military sales case presented to Congress on Monday.

Source: https://defence.pk/threads/saudi-arabia-set-to-buy-four-lockheed-martin-freedom-class-variants-in-11-25b-deal.404251/#ixzz3pPUH3NW8

LCS unit cost and program cost:

FY2010 budget documents revealed that the total costs of the two lead ships had risen to $637 million for Freedom and $704 million for Independence. A GAO report in July 2014 found that the annual cost to operate an LCS was $79 million, compared to $54 million to operate a larger frigate. As more littoral combat ships are built and enter service, operational costs will decline to acceptable limits.

In December 2010, the Government Accountability Office identified some problems with the designs including extremely long crew training time, unrealistic maintenance plans, and the lack of comprehensive risk assessment. On 13 December 2010, both production teams extended their contract offers until 30 December in order to give more time for the Navy to push through the plan. The Navy would be forced to award the contract to only one team if it failed to secure Congressional approval. The Navy budgeted $490 million for each ship while the Congressional Budget Office projected a cost of $591 million for each ship. Navy acquisition chief Sean Stackley testified to a Senate panel that the actual price range was $440 to $460 million.

A day before the offer's expiration, both Lockheed Martin and Austal USA received Navy contracts for an additional ten ships of their designs; two ships of each design being built each year between 2011 and 2015. Lockheed Martin's LCS-5 had a contractual price of $437 million, Austal USA's contractual price for LCS-6 was $432 million. On 29 December 2010, Department of Navy Undersecretary Sean Stackley noted that the program was well within the Congressional cost cap of $480 million per ship. The average per-ship target price for Lockheed ships is $362 million, Stackley said, with a goal of $352 million for each Austal USA ships. Government-furnished equipment (GFE), such as weapons, add about $25 million per ship; another $20 million for change orders, and "management reserve" is also included. Stackley declared the average cost to buy an LCS should be between $430 million and $440 million. In the fiscal year 2011, the unit cost was $1.8 billion and the program cost $3.7 billion

An SSC (Small Surface Combattant - an uparmed LCS - will cost $60–$75 million more than a Flight 0 LCS

Littoral combat ship - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
So, that's about half a billion dollars per ship.

Aside from a multiyear support/maintenance package for the 4 ships, there is clearly a more comprehensive FMS deal.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20, 2015 - The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for Multi-Mission Surface Combatant (MMSC) Ships and associated equipment, parts and logistical support for an estimated cost of $11.25 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on October 19, 2015.

The Government of Saudi Arabia has requested a naval modernization program to include the sale of Multi-Mission Surface Combatant (MMSC) ships and program office support.

The Multi-Mission Surface Combatant program will consist of:

Four (4) MMSC ships (a derivative of the Freedom Variant of the U.S. Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Class) that incorporates

• five (5) COMBATSS-21 Combat Management Systems (four (4) installed, one (1) spare) with five (5) TRS-4D Radars (four (4) installed, one (1) spare)
• Five (5) Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) (Mode 4- and Mode 5-capable) UPX-29 (four (4) installed, one (1) spare)
• Five (5) Compact Low Frequency Active Passive Variable Depth Sonar (four (4) installed, one (1) spare)
• Eight (8) MK-41 Vertical Launch Systems (VLS) (two (2) eight-cell assemblies per ship for 16 cells per hull)
  • Five-hundred thirty-two (532) tactical RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM) (one hundred twenty-eight (128) installed, twenty (20) test and training rounds, three hundred eighty-four (384) spares) [at $1.5m per missile]
• Five (5) AN/SWG-l (V) Harpoon Ship Command Launch Control Systems (four (4) installed (one (1) per ship), one (1) spare)
• Eight (8) Harpoon Shipboard Launchers (two (2) installed four-tube assemblies per ship)
  • Forty-eight (48) RGM-84 Harpoon Block II Missiles (thirty-two (32) installed, sixteen (16) test and training rounds) [at $1.2m per missile]
• Five (5) MK-15 Mod 31 SeaRAM Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) (four (4) installed, one (1) spare)
  • One-hundred eighty-eight (188) RIM 116C Block II Rolling Airframe Missiles (RAM) (forty-four (44) installed, twelve (12) test and training rounds, one hundred thirty-two (132) spares) [at $1m per missile]
• Five (5) MK-75 76mm OTO Melara Gun Systems (four (4) installed, one (1) spare)
  • Forty-eight (48) 50-caliber machine guns (forty (40) installed (ten (10) per ship), eight (8) spares); ordnance; and Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM) Global Positioning System/Precise Positioning Service (GPS/PPS) navigation equipment

Also included in this sale in support of the MMSC are:

• study, design and construction of operations;
• support and training facilities;
• spare and repair parts;
• support and test equipment;
• communications equipment employing Link 16 equipment;
• Fire Control System/Ceros 200 Sensor and Illuminator;
• 20mm Narwhal Gun;
• Nixie AN/SLQ-25A Surface Ship Torpedo Defense System;
• MK-32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes;
• WBR-2000 Electronic Support Measure and Threat Warning System;
• Automatic Launch of Expendables (ALEX) Chaff and Decoy-Launching System;
• ARC-210 Radios;
• Combined Enterprise Regional Information Exchange System (CENTRIXS);
• Automated Digital Network System;
• publications and technical documentation;
• personnel training and training equipment;
• U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical and logistics support services;
• and other related elements of logistical and program support.

In addition, this case will provide overarching program office support for the SNEP II to include:
U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical and logistics support, and other related elements of program support to meet necessities for program execution.

The estimated value of MDE is $4.3 billion. [MDE = Major Defence Equipment]

The total estimated cost is $11.25 billion.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Multi-Mission Surface Combatant (MMSC) Ships | The Official Home of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency

So, the differences between total costs and value of MDE (about 8 billion USD) is 'multiyear services', which - if you consider the ship's' expected service life of 40 years - is not that much per year (200 million annually, the value of which declines over time). Compare that to the annual operating cost of 4 ships.

 

[Shotgunner51]

Four Lockheed Martin Freedom-Class Variants in $11.25B Deal............

who are those so called saudi armed force leader/defence minister? they have no cradibility to help any nation, provinding weapons isil, commited to harm iran and it,s allay. i am not talking about muslim or any religious nation. the leader of saudi arabien should over thrown as the iranian people over throw the saah of iran. saudi arabin govt is the most moron in my thought. saudi selling oil to usa for money and the money againg to paying to usa for buying so called high tech weapons , again those so called high tech weapons getting blew up in yeamen.
but my question is what is getting the saudi people?

when the oil is dry up then the saudi people should eat the desert. i hope the oil naver end up.
fucking saudi govt.....................

And this happen when ...
Saudis Risk Draining Financial Assets in 5 Years, IMF Says - Bloomberg Business

However KSA can't cut defence budget, which is on par with nuclear superpower Russia, ranks 3rd (or a close 4th) largest in the world, more than UNSC P5 nuclear-armed France & UK, more than industrialized-exports powerhouses Japan, Germany & South Korea. That's the biggest pot of money outside control of US congress, China government and Vladimir Putin. Lucrative prices as well, see what this gigantic budget buys back in return. I doubt western defense contractors would allow KSA to do cut expenditure. Even western government agencies wouldn't allow KSA to touch it, they need this money to pay for proxy wars.

 

[JohnyD]

much corruption in saudis deals , i still remember the tornado deal ... phew , they really waste a lot of money.

they pay the protection money!

 

[denel]

Talal and cronies have to have complete cut of commissions. Interesting that US presses charges on corruption on other countries but blind eye to their own.