On February 20, 2023, the Emirati state defense Industrial group EDGE Group announced that it had signed a contract worth 1 billion euros for the construction of small corvettes of the BR71 Mk II project for the Angolan Navy by the Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB), a part of the group, in Abu Dhabi. The number of BR71 Mk II corvettes ordered by Angola has not been officially disclosed, but, according to a number of media reports, is three units. These ships should become the most powerful units of the Angolan fleet.
Image of the small corvette of the BR71 Mk II project (c) EDGE GroupEDGE Group said that the BR71 Mk II corvettes ordered by Angola will be "high-tech ships equipped with advanced systems, including a three-axis radar, an electronic warfare complex, secure communications, a main-caliber gun and surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missile systems."
It is reported that the corvettes for Angola will have a total displacement of more than 900 tons, a length of about 71 meters and a width of 11 meters. The power plant should include four MTU diesel engines with two steering and two marching water cannons, which will provide a maximum speed of up to 30 knots and a range of 2,500 nautical miles at a speed of 12 knots. The fuel reserve is 100 tons. The crew is 50 people. The specific configuration of Angolan corvettes for combat systems is still unknown.
The BR71 Mk II project was first introduced in 2015, but only now has Angola become its first customer. In fact, the BR71 Mk II project was developed by the French shipbuilding group CMN and is a development of its BR71 project, according to which six small Baynunah-type missile corvettes were built for the UAE Navy CMN and ADSB under a contract dated January 2004. The lead corvette P 171 Baynunah was built at the CMN shipyard in Cherbourg and commissioned by the UAE Navy in 2011, the remaining five were built with the participation of CMN at the ADSB shipyard in Mussaf (Abu Dhabi) and were handed over to the Emirati Navy from 2012 to 2017. These ships have a total displacement of 915 tons and a length of 71.3 meters.
It should be noted that ADSB itself has now begun implementing a contract received in 2021 for the construction of four patrol ships (actually small missile corvettes) of the Falaj 3 project for the UAE Navy, which are very similar in appearance and size to the BR71 Mk II project. The Falaj 3 project was developed under a contract issued by ADSB by the Singapore association ST Engineering and should have a total displacement of about 650 tons and a length of 60 meters.
The lead corvette P 171 Baynunah of the BR71 project of the UAE Navy (c) CMN
