Navantia handed over the first Saudi Avante 2200 corvette, Al Jubail, on 31 March. (Navantia)
Spanish shipbuilder Navantia has delivered the first Al Jubail Avante 2200-class corvette to the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF).
Al Jubail (828) was officially handed over during a ceremony held at Navantia's shipyard in San Fernando, Cádiz, on 31 March.
Al Jubail is the first of the five 104 m corvettes being built for the RSNF under a EUR1.8 billion (USD1.98 billion) contract signed in 2018. Construction started at Navantia's Cádiz yards in January 2019 and Al Jubail was laid down in October 2019 and launched in July 2020. The launch of the follow-on ships, Al Diriyah (830), Hail (832), Jazan (834), and Unayzah (836), have occured at four-monthly intervals, with the final ship entering the water for the first time in December 2021.
Al Diriyah is planned to be delivered in 2022, followed by Hail and Jazan in 2023, and the final ship, Unayzah, in 2024.
The Al Jubail class design is based on the earlierAvante 2200 ships built by Navantia for Venezuela. Modifications to the Saudi version include a 4 m hull stretch (104 m compared with the 98.9 m patrol version for Venezuela), an expanded combat system and armament suite, and adaptations to enable operations in the high temperatures of the Gulf. It has a top speed of 27 kt (compared with 25 kt for Venezuela, suggesting larger engines in the Saudi version) and can accommodate 102 personnel, compared with 111 for Venezuela.
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