Keel laid for future corvette for Royal Saudi Naval Forces

Spanish shipbuilder Navantia laid the keel of a future Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF) Avante 2200 corvette in a ceremony in Cadiz on Wednesday, July 9.

The future Al-Madinah will be identical to the units already in service with the RSNF. This particular ship is one of three that were recently ordered from Navantia by the Saudi Ministry of Defence.

Navantia will be responsible for the delivery of the first unit in Spain and will finalise the second and third units in Saudi Arabia for the installation, integration and trials of the Hazem Combat System to be done by SAMINavantia, similar to the works carried out on the fourth and fifth units of the earlier corvette contract.

The second batch series of corvettes for Saudi Arabia will be similar to the first batch, with a design based on Navantia’s Avante 2200 model.

Each ship in the class will be a multi-purpose platform specially designed for patrolling and monitoring of exclusive economic zone waters, maritime traffic surveillance and control missions, search and rescue missions and assistance to other vessels, among others.