TSAMTO, July 29. The fourth of five Avante-2200 corvettes ordered for the Saudi Arabian Navy was launched at the Spanish company Navantia in San Fernando.
The ceremony, which took place on July 24, was attended by the commander of the Saudi Navy, Vice Admiral Fahad Bin Abdullah Al-Ghofaily (Fahad Bin Abdullah Al-Ghofaily).
During the event, the ship was named "Jazan", in honor of the city in the south-west of Saudi Arabia. After launching, the corvette will be retrofitted at the completion wall. The transfer of the ship to the Saudi Arabian Navy is scheduled for April 2023.
During his visit to Spain, the commander of the Saudi Navy also got acquainted with the San Fernando enterprise and the Navantia Training Center (NTC), where crews and corvette repair specialists from the Arab state are trained.
As reported by TSAMTO, in July 2018, Navantia signed a contract with the government of Saudi Arabia for the construction of five corvettes under the ALSARAWAT project, the cost of which is 1.8 billion rubles. euro ($2.1 billion). The agreement entered into force in November 2018. The construction of the corvettes is based on the Avante-2200 project, adapted to the requirements of the Saudi Arabian Navy.
Most of the work on the construction of the ships will be carried out in Spain. Steel cutting for the construction of the first corvette, "El-Jubail", began in January 2019. It was launched in July 2020. The transfer of this ship to the customer is scheduled for October 2021. To date, three corvettes of the series have been launched ("El-Jubail", "El-Dirya" and "Hail"). The Jizan became the fourth corvette launched.
The ceremony of laying the keel of the fifth and last corvette, "Unayza" (Unayzah), took place in April 2021. It is assumed that the delivery of this ship to the customer will be completed in 2024.
In accordance with the terms of the deal, the completion of the last two ships will be completed in Saudi Arabia, where, in particular, the CATIZ combat control system of Navantia will be installed and tested. In addition, Navantia will be responsible for the maintenance of the ships for five years from the date of delivery of the first corvette. The option provides for the extension of maintenance work for another five years.
The length of the El-Jubail class corvette is 104 m, the maximum width is 14 m. It is equipped with MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH engines, the estimated maximum speed is 27 knots, the autonomy will be 21 days. 102 people (crew and additional personnel) can be accommodated on board. The ship's armament will include a 76/62-mm Super Rapid artillery system manufactured by Leonardo, a 35-mm Millennium ZAK by Rheinmetall, a VPU with a missile defense system, as well as other systems.
In addition to the CATIZ SBU, the corvettes will receive the HERMESYS integrated communication system developed by Navantia, the DORNA fire control system, the Integrated Platform Control system, the NAVCOMS / HERMESYS integrated external and internal communication system, the MINERVA integrated bridge, engines and gearboxes.
