Al Madinah in 2017
Class overview
Name	Al Madinah class
Builders	Arsenal de Lorient, France CNIM, La Seyne, France
Operators	Royal Saudi Navy
Succeeded by	Al Riyadh class
Built	1981–1986
In commission	1985–present
Planned	4
Completed	4
Active	4
General characteristics
Type	Frigate
Displacement	1,990 tons standard 2610 tons full load
Length	377 ft 4 in (115.01 m)
Beam	41 ft (12 m)
Draught	15 ft 4 in (4.67 m)
Installed power	32,500 bhp (24,200 kW)
Propulsion	2 shaft, SEMT Pielstick diesel engines
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range	8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	179
Sensors and processing systems	Radars 2 x Decca 1226, Thompson CSF – Sea Tiger DRBV-15, DRBC-32E Castor 2 (fire control) Sonar Hull-mounted Thompson CSF Diodon, Diodon-Sorel VDS
Electronic warfare & decoys	Thompson CSF DR4000 ESM, SENIT VI CCS, Decoys: Two CSEE Dagaie chaff launchers
Armament	8 × Otomat mk 2 anti ship missiles 1 × 100 mm/55 compact gun 2 × twin 40 mm/70 Breda Bofors guns 1 × 8-cell Crotale surface to air missile launcher (24 missiles) 4 × 550 mm torpedo tubes (F17P torpedoes)
Aircraft carried	1 × SA365F Dauphin helicopter
Aviation facilities	Flight deck and hangar

The Al Madinah class are a series of four frigates built for the Royal Saudi Navy. The ships are named after Saudi cities. The first, Al Madinah was commissioned in 1985, and the fourth, Taif was commissioned in 1986. The four Al Madinah-class frigates are based in the Red Sea.

Description

The frigates were ordered in October 1980 as part of the "Sawari" programme. The Al Madinah class was built in France at the 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, with 26 missiles total. The vessels are also armed with one 100 mm/55 dual purpose gun, two 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, four torpedo tubes. The frigates have an aft helicopter deck and hangar for use by one Dauphin helicopter.^[1]

Ships in class

Service history

In August 2013, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the French ODAS agency signed a contract to upgrade and modernize the Al Madinah-class frigates.^[2]

On 30 January 2017, Al Madinah was attacked by Yemeni Houthi militia along the western coast of Yemen in the Red Sea. Two Saudi sailors were killed and three injured in the attack. Houthi forces claimed to have targeted the ship with a missile, but Saudi forces claim that the ship was hit by 3 "suicide boats".^[3][4]