Navantia commissions the fourth corvette Avante 2200 to the Royal Saudi Naval Force in Jeddah

Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), 5th December 2023 – His Royal Highness Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Saudi Minister of Defense commissioned yesterday to the Royal Saudi Arabian Navy (RSNF) the fourth of the five Avante 2200 corvettes. The event  was held at the King Faisal Naval Base in Jeddah, where the ship had undergone completion of localization works of major combat systems.

The ceremony was attended by H.E. General Fayyad bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili, Chief of the General Staff, and H.E. Vice Admiral Fahd bin Abdullah Al-Ghofaily, the Chief of Staff of Royal Saudi Naval Forces; as well as by the Vice Minister of Commerce of Spain, Xiana Méndez; the Chief of Spanish Navy Personnel, Admiral Gonzalo Sanz and Navantia’s Chairman, Ricardo Domínguez.

The ceremony was also attended by the Assistant Minister of Defence Dr. Albiyari; the vice Governor of GAMI, Mohammed Alathel; and the undersecretary for Procurement, Ibrahim Alsuwayed, as well as by the CEO of SAMI, Walid Abukhaled; SAMINavantia’s Chairman, Dr. Mohammed Alkahtani and the CEO of SAMINavantia, Sofía Honrubia

The corvette, named JAZAN (C549) had been transported in a special ship from San Fernando (southern Spain) to Saudi Arabia for the final construction and integration of the ship’s combat system. The programme has thus confirmed the capability of technology transfer (ToT) and localization by Navantia to SAMINavantia, the joint venture created in Saudi Arabia together with the Saudi state-owned company SAMI, achiving one of the major goals of Kingdom’s Vision 2023 for localizing Naval and Military industries.

The delivery of this fourth corvette to the Saudi Kingdom is a further milestone in Navantia’s contractual commitment to this customer, thus contributing to providing Saudi Arabia with a strong and reliable naval capability through SAMI Navantia.

SAMI Navantia engineers have been involved in the completion works in Arabia of this fourth corvette, as well as leading its sea trials. As an example of the success of this capability plan, SAMI Navantia is providing excellent performance through its maintenance team in Arabia, focusing on corvette availability and best service for the RSNF.

As a result of SAMI Navantia’s localization strategy, the “Naval Systems Integration and Development Center of Excellence” will be inaugurated in Riyadh before the end of this year to develop and evolve the HAZEM combat system, with the aim of serving the needs of the Saudi Kingdom, as well as targeting the region’s export market.

The Avante 2200 Program

The JAZAN corvette is the fourth of the five that make up the Avante 2200 program. It has a length of 104 meters, a beam of 14 meters and is capable of carrying a total of 102 crew and passengers.

The program, whose last vessel is set to be delivered in 2024, includes, in addition to construction, Life Cycle Support for five years from the delivery of the first vessel, with an option for an additional five years.

On the other hand, the contract also includes the supply of several other services, such as integrated logistic support, operational and maintenance training, supply of Training and Training Centers for the Combat System and Platform Control System of the ships, the mentioned Life Cycle Support and the systems for the maintenance of the ships at the Jeddah Naval Base.

File photo courtesy Navantia

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