Navantia Achieves Major Progress in Second Corvette Programme for Saudi Arabia

Navantia’s shipyard in San Fernando (Cádiz) performed the keel laying for the first corvette in the second series signed with the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF) on July 9. This vessel will be the shipyard’s 571st construction and will be named HMS Al-Madinah.

This milestone, held as a working event, was attended by the highest representative of the RSNF, Vice Admiral Mohammed Abdlrahman Alghuraybi and the Saudi ambassador to Spain, Princess Haifa bint Abdulaziz Al-Mogrin among other Saudi representatives. They were received at the shipyard by the president of Navantia Ricardo Domínguez; and the director of corvettes and maritime action vessels business, Alberto Cervantes.

Once the keel was placed on the slipway of what will be the sixth corvette built for the Royal Saudi Naval Forces, those attending headed to the ‘José Antonio Rodríguez Poch’ Flat Open Unit Workshop, where the RSNF’s top representative signed a plaque commemorating today’s milestone. A Navantia worker then welded his signature onto the plaque.

Later, at the Flat Open Unit Workshop itself, the first steel plate was cut for the third of the corvettes included in this contract, which means that Navantia has now started the production of all three units. Finally, the Vice Admiral and the Ambassador signed the shipyard’s Book of Honour in the presence of the chairman of Navantia.

This cut of steel plate comes just over three months after the one of the second unit. The last of these three vessels is scheduled for delivery in 2028. Navantia will be responsible for the delivery of the first unit, while the second and third will be completed in Saudi Arabia with the installation, integration, and testing of the combat system, as was the case with the previous contract.

The contract includes the supply of an integrated logistics support package and crew training, along with a period of operational evaluation of the ships by the Spanish Navy at the Rota naval base, where Navantia will provide support services. In addition, Navantia will train around 100 Saudi engineers. This contract represents approximately four million hours of work for the Bay of Cádiz, generating an impact of up to 2,000 jobs (direct, indirect, and induced employment).

Avante 2200 Model: This second series of three corvettes for Saudi Arabia will be identical to the first series, with a design based on Navantia’s Avante 2200 model, a multipurpose vessel specifically designed for maritime traffic surveillance and control, search and rescue, and assistance to other vessels, among others. In addition, the vessels will have significant capacity for the defence of strategic assets, intelligence, and anti-submarine, anti-aircraft, anti-surface, and electronic warfare capabilities.

The corvettes’ design is state-of-the-art, while maximising Navantia’s participation, incorporating its own products such as the HAZEM combat system, through the SAMINavantia joint venture, the HERMESYS integrated communications system, the DORNA fire control system, the Integrated Platform Control System, the MINERVA integrated bridge, the propulsion engines, licensed by MTU, the diesel generator sets, and the gearboxes, licensed by Schelde. Finally, the repairs business unit will also participate in the program, carrying out work during the corvettes' grounding in San Fernando.