Ummm, because LCS isn't a Frigate?

I take the consultancy contract if they need another brain on this no-brainer.

The Saudi Navy is said to be still favoring the FREMM-class frigate and the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) for its frigate programme. The following 403-word report included in Tactical Weekly of May 8, 2009, focuses on the subject and tells why the Saudi Navy still favors the FREMM-class frigate. It also tells whether it still prefer the LCS-1 built by Lockheed Martin to the LCS-2 built by General Dynamics. Besides, the report tells what about the other offers.

I don't care how much you bow to the King - the Saudi navy would be fools to go with the Little Crappy Ship over this.

Type: Frigate
Displacement: 6,000 tonnes
Length: 142 m
Beam: 20 m
Draught: 5 m
Propulsion: GE/Avio LM 2500 G4 gas turbine 34 MW + 2 EPM (4 D/Gen 2.1 MW)
Speed: Over 27 knots (50 km/h)
Range: 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km)
Complement: 108 (accommodation available for 145)
Sensors and processing systems: Herakles (Fr) or Empar (It) radar

Armament:

MU 90 torpedoes
MM-40 Exocet block 3 (France version), Teseo\Otomat Mk-2/A (Italian version)
MBDA Aster SAAM
Otobreda 76 mm SR gun
Further armament depending of variante
Aircraft carried: 1 (Fr), 2 (It)NH90 helicopter, capability for EH101 (It)

Sigh. That is just the common gear (all versions have a multi-mission capability). If you see a need for more umph in a specific warfare area, you can add additional ASW, AAW or Land Attack missiles to suit your nation's specific need.

Sure, they cost about a billion dollars a piece - but that is because they are only building a little under 20 for FRA, ITA, GRC, and MOR. With appropriate economy of scale that we see for LCS - it would cost about the same as LCS in the end when you throw in a mission module or two in for measure. But FREMM, unlike LCS, is multi-mission with a basic loadout - and has twice the displacement. It also has a decent crew for actually conducting combat operations and maintaining a ship.

...but I guess it isn't "revolutionary" enough to build a solid usable warship - so we don't want anything close to a FREMM at under a $1 billion, right?

Harumph.