According to the New York Times, the Bush administration will make a large offer a large arms deal to Saudi Arabia this week when Gates and Rice tour the region. This has been in the works awhile, first reported in December of 2005 when Saudi Arabia expressed interest in the LCS, and then again in September of 2006 when the Saudi's apparently decided the General Dynamics option was what they were looking for.LCS interest to date has mostly been from Saudi Arabia and Israel, although there are others. Many are watching both the LCS and FREMM programs to weigh the differences and capabilities before choosing a small combatant.
The Arms deal offer in regards to Saudi Arabia appears to be related to the US stepping up its larger strategy in the region. From the NYT article:
The proposed package of advanced weaponry for Saudi Arabia, which includes advanced satellite-guided bombs, upgrades to its fighters and new naval vessels, has made Israel and some of its supporters in Congress nervous. Senior officials who described the package on Friday said they believed that the administration had resolved those concerns, in part by promising Israel $30.4 billion in military aid over the next decade, a significant increase over what Israel has received in the past 10 years.
After the NYT article, the US did offer a 30 billion dollar defense aid package for Israel over the next 10 years, a 25% increase. It is noteworthy the US-Israel deal appears done, while the US is only offering this option to Saudi Arabia.
The deal with Saudi Arabia would include upgrades for their existing F-15 fleet, adds the JDAM to their arsenal (something Israel wasn't happy about until they got more money), and if what I am hearing is true, offers an AEGIS version of the General Dynamics Multi-Mission Combatant (GDMMC) to Saudi Arabia. The defensenews article linked above is close, but the actual LCS version being offered is slightly better than the one listed back in 2006. The GDMMC fact sheet describes the platform as:
The General Dynamics Multi-Mission Combatant (GDMMC) is a flexible, shallow-draft, high-speed ship capable of conducting all simultaneous missions required by today’s global naval forces.
Principal Characteristics:
LOA: 127.6m
Beam: 31.6m
Draft: 4.4m
Displacement Full Load: 3120MT
Max. Speed (Light Load): >40 knots
Range: Cruise @16 knots: 4,500 nm
Sprint @ 36 knots: 1,500 nm
Mission Bay: 1,100 sqm (11,800 sqft)
Flight Deck: 1,030 sqm (11,100 sqft)
Accommodation: 110 personnel
Armament Options Include:
32 Missile Vertical Launch System
1 57mm Gun (Forward)
8 Harpoon Missiles
2 Close-in Weapons systems
6 ASW Torpedoes
Propulsion and Electrical:
Gas Turbines (2)
Diesels (2)
Waterjets (4) and Retractable Azi Thruster
Diesel Generators (4)
I have inquired to several shipbuilders asking if in fact this GDMMC version would support AEGIS and maintain the listed capabilities, and to a man each response has been yes. They point out the GD LCS is built on the fast ferry design, and catamaran's inherently have a greater potential for payload than the LM LCS version ever did. With the weight of the SPY-1F and the trade for module space for much better weapon systems, the GDMMC comes in around 400 tons heavier at top displacement, is claimed to have considerably less mission module space, is claimed to be a lot more difficult to handle in high sea states (in relation to the USN LCS version), and has a lower top speed than the US Navy LCS-2 / LCS-4 design.
H/T Springboard
Update: Inserted the word "claimed" and added some detail in the last paragraph. MattReloaded of Warships1 forum asked where i got these figures, and admittedly since I am not an engineer, I made inquiries to determine the differences between the USN LCS and MMC LCS which I used in this post.
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