Navantia hands over fifth Avante 2200 corvette to Royal Saudi Navy

The delivery of Saudi Arabia’s fifth Avante 2200 corvette, built at Navantia’s Bay of Cádiz shipyard, took place on March 7.

In accordance with the terms of the contract, the handover took place at the King Faisal naval base in Jeddah.  Chief of Staff of Royal Saudi Naval Forces, Vice Admiral Fahad Bin Abdullah Al-Ghofaily delivered his speech indicating that HMS Unayzah is the fifth and last corvette of Al-Sarawat project to be delivered. 

The corvette, like its sister ships, has distinctive capabilities to handle multi-combat missions. The ship has a length of 104 meters, a beam of 14 and seating for a total of 102 people between crew and passengers.

The localization of defense capabilities development and integration was carried out onboard HMS Unayzah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by the role of Saudi Arabian Military Industry (SAMI) in Alsarawat project. Furthermore, successful accomplishment of extensive combat systems trials and live firings were carried out in KSA.

The contract for the construction of five corvettes entered into force in November 2018 and, since the launch of the first unit (July 2020), Navantia has launched the five units with a period of four months between each one of them. Deliveries are taking place after just over three years from the cutting of the first plate of each ship.

The program includes, in addition to construction, the Life Cycle Support for five years from the delivery of the first ship, with an option for another five additional years, the last ship of which must be delivered in 2024.

It also includes the provision of various services, such as integrated logistics support, operational and maintenance training, provision of education and training centers for the combat system and platform control system of ships, life cycle support, and ship maintenance systems at the Jeddah Naval Base.