Navantia launches 1st of 5 Corvettes for Saudi Arabia

Navantia has successfully carried out the launching of Al-Jubail, the first of five corvettes for the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF). The ceremony was held at the San Fernando shipyard and was attended by the Commander of RSNF, H.E. Vice Admiral Fahad Bin Abdullah AlGhofaily; by the Chairwoman of Navantia, Susana de Sarriá; by the Acting CEO of SAMI, Eng. Walid Abukhaled and Admiral of Logistics Support Bay of Cadiz of Spanish Navy, Vice Admiral Ricardo A. Hernández López (Alardiz).

Commander of the RSNF highlighted importance of the ALSARAWAT Project contracted to Navantia, as one of the largest capability-acquisition programmes for the RSNF which “reflects a strong strategic relation between Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Kingdom of Spain and enlarges the cooperation between the RSNF and Spanish Navy in shipbuilding, education and training”. The Commander of RSNF also indicated that the success of this project was a key factor for ambitious future projects and an enduring partnership.

The Al-Jubail corvette has a length of 104 metres, a beam of 14 metres and will be able to accommodate 102 people (crew and additional personnel). It is designed for a maximum speed of 27 knots.

There corvettes are the latest generation of Navantia- designed combatants and incorporate state- of- the- art Navantia products, such as the Catiz Combat System, Dorna Gun Fire Control System, NAVCOMS/ HERMESYS Integrated External and Internal Communications

System, MINERVA Integrated Navigation and Bridge System, or Complex-Simplex Integrated Platform Management Platform together with equipment manufactured by Navantia under license such as the Leonardo Super Rapid 76mm main gun, Rheinmetall Air Defence Millennium 35mm closein weapon system, MTU propulsion engines and diesel generators, and RENK gearboxes.

For the follow- on sister ships, the objective is to recover time and meet the initial milestones, so that the second corvette can be launched by December 2020. The corvette programme, which entered into force in November 2018, strengthens the immediate future of Navantia and benefits all the company’s shipyards and its auxiliary industry, especially the entire Bay of Cádiz.