Thales and DCN officially present second SAWARI II frigate to Commander in Chief of Royal Saudi Arabian Navy
07 April 2004
On Saturday 3 April 2004, Thales and DCN presented the frigate H.M.S Makkah (Mecca) to the Commander in Chief of the Royal Saudi Arabian Navy. This represents a new step in the Sawari II programme signed by France and Saudi Arabia on 19 November 1994. The official ceremony, held in Toulon, was attended by a large number of Saudi Arabian and French officials.
The Sawari II contract concerns the construction of three F3000S frigates as well as the associated logistical support and training. Thales, as prime contractor, is working with two key industrial partners: DCN for the platform architecture, shipbuilding and propulsion systems and Armaris subsidiary SFCS for the combat system.
The following companies are also participating in this programme:
* MBDA for missiles
* Navfco for training (700 crew and cadet engineers)
* Sofinfra for 20,000m2 of infrastructures in Jeddah, including a school and workshops.
H.M.S Makkah will spend the next eight months in Toulon for crew training. The third frigate, H.M.S Al-Damman, is currently undergoing sea trials. All three frigates have been built in Lorient.
DCN-designed F3000S multimission frigates are based on the highly successful La Fayette design. Basic characteristics include an overall length of 133 metres, a beam of 17 metres, and an average displacement of 4,500 tons. These vessels feature sophisticated weapon systems and a highly-automated combat management system developed jointly by Thales and DCN. The combat system includes the SAAM anti-missile self-defence system combining an Arabel fire-control radar and Aster 15 missiles.
Press contacts:
Thales
Matt Pothecary - Tel. : + 33 1 57 77 86 26 - matt.pothecary@thalesgroup.com
Dominique Desbrugères - Tel. : + 33 1 57 97 87 85 - dominique.desbrugeres@thalesgroup.com
DCN
Ms Nadia Laurent - Tel: +33 (0)1 40 59 55 80 - nadia.laurent@dcn.fr
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
