TSAMTO, July 18. The second Govind-2500-class corvette of local construction and the third of four ordered as a whole for the Egyptian Navy has completed initial sea trials.
As reported by Defenceweb.co.za With reference to the press release of the Naval Group dated July 5, the corvette (981) "Al-Moez", built in Egypt at the Alexandria Shipyard, successfully completed the first sea trials.
"This new milestone demonstrates the success of technology transfer and production, as well as close industrial cooperation between the two countries," the French company said in a statement. The new corvette is expected to be put into service by the end of this year.
The contract for the supply of four Govind-2500 class corvettes to the Egyptian Navy was signed in June 2014 and entered into force in July 2015. The agreement provided for the construction of the lead ship in France within 29 months and three more at the state shipyard Alexandria Shipyard (Egypt) as part of the technology transfer agreement. Presumably, the cost of the program was 1 billion. euro ($1.4 billion). The contract included an option to build two additional ships.
The steel cutting ceremony for the lead corvette (971) "El Fateh" took place at the Naval Group enterprise in Lorient on April 16, 2015. The ship was handed over to the Egyptian Navy on September 22, 2017 and arrived in Alexandria on October 18, 2017.
Construction of the second ship, (976) "Port Said" (Port Said), began in Egypt in April 2016. The launch of the corvette took place at the Alexandria Shipyard on September 6, 2018. The second ship built in Egypt, (981) "Al-Moez" (Al-Moez), was launched in May 2019, the third, (986) "Luxor" (Luxor), in May 2020.
The ceremony of acceptance into service of the Egyptian Navy of the Govind-2500 class corvette, (976) Port Said, took place on January 6, 2021. It is the first ship of this type built at the Alexandria Shipyard in Egypt.
The Egyptian version of the Govind-2500 corvette has a total length of 102 m, a width of 16 m, and a displacement of 2,600 tons– The ship is equipped with a combined CODAD powerplant, develops a maximum speed of 25 knots, the cruising range at a speed of 15 knots is 3,700 nautical miles. The crew, including the helicopter squad, is up to 80 people.
The Govind-2500 project, selected by Egypt, is equipped with the SETIS combat control system developed by Naval Group. The integrated closed-type mast provides circular detection. The mast equipment includes SMART-S radar, electronic warfare equipment (including Silena false target launchers). The panoramic bridge provides a 360 degree view.
The armament of the Govind-2500-class corvettes of the Egyptian Navy consists of one 76-mm and two 20-mm artillery installations, 16 VL-MICA anti-aircraft guided missiles and eight MM-40 Exocet anti-ship missiles.3, two three-tube 324-mm torpedo tubes with MU-90 torpedoes. Each corvette is designed to receive and base one medium-sized EC-725 "Cougar" helicopter. Additionally, the ship is equipped with KINGKLIP gas and CAPTAS 2 towed sonar.
This version of the Govind family of warships was ordered by Egypt, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates. Naval Group also proposed this project of a corvette of the Greek Navy.
