Royal Oman Navy ship at the port of Goa in 2016 (2)

Royal Navy of Oman sail training ship Shabab Oman

The Royal Navy of Oman ( ar, البحرية السلطانية العمانية), abbreviated RNO, is the maritime component of the Royal Armed Forces of the

Sultanate of Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

. Given its long coastline and strategic location along the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

, as well as being close to the

Strait of Hormuz The Strait of Hormuz ( fa, تنگه هرمز ''Tangeh-ye Hormoz'' ar, مَضيق هُرمُز ''Maḍīq Hurmuz'') is a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the o ...

, the Royal Navy is one of the priorities of the government of Oman. It has a fleet of gunboats, fast missile boats and support, training, cargo and hydro-graphical survey vessels, which can be deployed to defend the territorial waters and coastline of Oman as well as protect tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The Royal Navy's headquarters are in Seeb, near the Muscat International Airport. A modernization program is ongoing, with the objective of creating a first rate fleet.Similarly, the Royal Oman Police's fleet, which operates smaller range boats and patrol crafts, is being updated due to raising tensions in the region. The origin of the Royal Navy of Oman is traceable to the reign of Imam Ghassan bin Abdullah (807–824 CE). He was the first ruler of Oman to possess a Navy, with a standing royal navy of Oman being formally established in 1650.

History

The origin of the Royal Navy of Oman can be traced to the reign of Imam Ghassan bin Abdullah (807–824 CE). He was the first ruler of Oman to possess a Navy. He commissioned ships in order to fend off pirates operating along the western shores of the

who were conducting raids along the coast of the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...

. The Omani Navy dominated the Western Indian Ocean for many years thereafter until the arrival of the Portuguese that changed the balance of sea power in the region. Beginning in 1508 with the invasion of Oman by the Portuguese the conflict came to end in 1515 with the loss of Oman’s maritime trade routes. Beginning in 1624, Oman started to recover its lost naval ports under Imam ‘s Nasir bin Murshid (1624–1649), and

Sultan bin Saif Sultan bin Saif bin Malik () (died c. 1679) was the second of the Yaruba dynasty of Imams of Oman, a member of the Ibadi sect. He ruled from 1649 to 1679. He completed the work of his predecessor, Nasir bin Murshid, in driving the Portuguese out o ...

(1649–1688) the objective of the Omani navy's role was force out the Portuguese from their bases in Oman that was achieved by 1650.Sulaiman Aljabri. p. 182. The Royal Oman Navy fell into another period of neglect until the reign of Ahmed bin Said. (1749–1783). He began to rebuild the Omani Navy and had commissioned a fleet of four ships, that were equipped with 40 guns, additionally, he had 25 coastal boats built. A stronger navy was rebuilt between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. Its main purpose was to then protect Oman’s overseas territories. During the reign of Sultan Said bin Sultan (1806–1856) the navy grew larger. The Sultan had sent several Royal Omani Navy ships on specific commercial and diplomatic visits, first to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 1840 the Al Sultanah transported Ahmed bin Al-Noman Al-Ka’abi who was the first Arab envoy sent to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. From 1862, the

lapsed again into a period of steady decline due to internal political wrangling’s and along with it the Royal Oman Navy. In 1888 Oman became a

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its in ...

of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

, which it would remain for almost 100 years. In 1962, the

Dhofar Rebellion The Dhofar Rebellion, also known as the Dhofar War or the Omani Civil War, was waged from 1963 to 1976 in the province of Dhofar against the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman. The war began with the formation of the Dhofar Liberation Front, a group ...

erupted, pitting

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

insurgents against the Omani government. Although small, the Omani Navy undertook an important role in this conflict by providing naval gunfire support and bombarding insurgent positions inland. During the late 1960s, the Royal Oman Navy existed as the naval branch of the Sultan’s Armed Forces (SAF) instead of as a separate standing navy. In 1971 the British Protectorate of Oman came to an end, and following the discovery of oil fields leading to the sale of oil abroad, that provided much-needed investment in modernizing the navy and growing the existing fleet. The main naval base moved from Sultan Bin Ahmed Naval Base in Muscat to Said bin Sultan Naval Base in Wudam Al Sahil, near Al-Musannah, which opened in 1988. One of the largest engineering projects in Oman, it serves as a homeport for the fleet and includes training facilities as well as repair bays. The Sultan Qaboos Naval academy, located at the base, provided instruction for officers and enlisted personnel, as well as specific branch training. Originally, most of the

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

s were British, with

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

s being mostly Pakistani. However, by 1980, most of the officers were Omani, though British and Pakistani technicians remained. In 1992, the Royal Oman Navy had a strength of 3,000 personnel. The Royal Oman Navy does not have a marine corps or any

naval infantry Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refl ...

formations, though it has multiple amphibious warfare ships. A modernization program is ongoing in order to protect the coastline as well as the strategically important Strait of Hormuz. The British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

, in 2011, helped train corvette crews with its Flag Officer Sea Training.

Ships

Missiles

* 50 VT-1 Crotale NG SAMs * 162 Exocet MM-40 (122 Block-1+ 40 Block-2) * Exocet MM-38 *

Harpoon A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument and tool used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other marine hunting to catch and injure large fish or marine mammals such as seals and whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target ani ...

Block-II * VL Mica-SAM

Electronics

* MASS Ship protection system * 3 x SMART-S MK-II Ship sensors * 2 x MW-8 Air search radar * 5 x Sting fire control radar * 2 x DRBV-51C fire control radar * 3 x RA-20S air search radar * 4 x 9LV radar * 3 x CEROS-200 radar

Future

Procurement

New Research Vessel

The Royal Navy of Oman (RNO) has contracted with the US Pentagon through a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program to provide a new research vessel based on the RV F.G. Walton Smith, a

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

vessel. DeJong & Lebet, Naval Architects, provided the US Navy with Contract Drawings and Engineering. Thoma-Sea Shipbuilders of Lockport, Louisiana reportedly won a $7.3m contract to build a Catamaran Hull Hydrographic Survey Vessel for the government of Oman, according to a report. This vessel will be built by Thoma-Sea. Thoma-Sea’s partner in this proposal is Technology Associates Inc. (TAI) of New Orleans in Louisiana. TAI prepared the proposal for Thoma-Sea and will be in charge of performing the Design, Program Management and Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) functions for Thoma-Sea. The Sultanate of Oman will receive this 90-foot vessel, which is designed to conduct hydrographic and environmental surveys of harbors and bays, and will work in Oman’s territorial waters, according to the release. Oman has also issued RFI for a new ‘hydrographic survey vessel’. US Naval Sea Systems Command is promoting ship design based on the Walton Smith Catamaran design. In Oman, South Korean defence minister Song Young-moo met with his counterpart Sayyid Badr bin Saud bin Harib Al Busaidi. They spoke highly about the South Korean destroyers, Oman signed a deal in 2018 for an unknown number of ships and other arms including tanks. South Korean Navy to receive refurbished KDX-I destroyer Eulji Mundeok.https://www.naval-technology.com/news/south-korean-navy-eulji-mundeok/

Former ships

* Four Brooke Marine patrol craft

References

{{Asia topic, Navy of, title=Navies of Asia Military units and formations established in the 1950s Military of Oman Navies by country