The Royal Bahrain Naval Force’s fast attack craft RBNS Abdul Rahman al-Fadel has been upgraded with what appears to be a new electro-optical fire-control system, photographs released by the Bahrain Defence Force on 20 August confirmed.
King Hamad visits Salman Navy Base with Vice Admiral James Malloy on 19 August. The upgraded Abdul Rahman al-Fadel can be seen directly behind them, with the same system seen top left on the corvette Al-Muharraq . (Bahrain Defence Force)
The photographs showed King Hamad visiting the Salman Naval Base in Manama with Vice Admiral James Malloy, the commander of the US Fifth Fleet a day earlier. Abdul Rahman al-Fadel – one of four TNC 45s built for Bahrain by Lürssen in the 1980s – could be seen in the background fitted with the new system next to its aft 40 mm gun.
The system appeared to be the same as the one fitted to Bahrain’s two Al-Manamah-class corvettes as part of a wider upgrade carried out by Leonardo under a contract signed in 2015. Like the TNC 45s, the corvettes were built by Lürssen in the 1980s.
Leonardo has provided few details of the contract, saying only that it is worth more than EUR50 million (USD55.4 million) and covers six vessels, four of which it has yet to identify. Leonardo has said the corvette upgrade includes a new weapon-control system, training services, and logistics.
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