First Tuwaiq ship launched in Marinette

On 13 December at Fincantieri Marinette shipyard in Marinette, Wisconsin, a ceremony of rolling out the hall and launching a multitasking ship took place. Saud (820), built for the naval forces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Tuwaiq: from LCS to MMSC

Full name ship Jalalat Al-Malik Saud is the first of the four units ordered in the United States under the intergovernmental FMS procedure. The MMSC project, based on a Saudi series of ships of this type, derives directly from the American Freedom LCS program. The conclusions of his previous service in the US Navy significantly influenced the final design of the structure offered to foreign customers.

The Tuwaiq program was launched in October 2015, when the United States Congress agreed to sell MMSC-type vessels Saudi Arabia. An agreement worth US$11.25 billion was signed in May 2017, while financing the construction of four ships of this type was launched in March 2018. Metal burning for prototype Sauda began on October 31, 2019, and the keel location occurred on May 26, 2021.

Programme schedule and scope of the contract

The next stages of the programme were already implemented with a clear slip over the original assumptions. The Nettle for the Future Fahda (822) was laid down in October 2022, while in July 2024 construction of the fourth ship, named Salman (826). According to the original schedule, the whole series was to be handed over to the recipient by June 2026, which currently seems to be unrealistic.

The scope of the contract is not limited to the supply of ships. The agreement also includes the modernisation of King Abdulaziz's naval base in Al-Jubajl, including the construction of training facilities and repair infrastructure. The objective of this element of the programme is to gradually separate Saudi naval forces from foreign entities in terms of maintaining the combat readiness of newly launched ships.

Tuwaiq programme against the background of US Navy experience with LCS

The question remains how Tuwaiq ships will work in the reality of service in Saudi Arabia's Navy. The MMSC project comes out of the LCS programme, which has been raising mixed assessments in the US Navy from the very beginning. Both options Freedom, and the twin Independence proved to be costly structures in maintenance and difficult to fit into the changing realities of the modern battlefield at sea. The concept based on very high speed and modularity did not yield the expected results, which led to a revision of the programme's assumptions and decisions to gradually reduce its role in the fleet US Navy.

In this context, it will be interesting to observe how the LCS solutions will be adapted to the needs and doctrines of Saudi maritime forces. MMSC is already being developed as modular structures, equipped with permanent weapons and combat systems, which is a direct consequence of the experience LCS program. However, the final answer to the question of their combat value will fail only after entering the service and starting regular operation in the Middle East.