Navantia awarded contract for additional Avante 2200 corvettes for Saudi Arabia

The additional units will be identical to the five Al Jubail (Avante 2200)-class corvettes already in service with the RSNF. (Navantia)

Spanish state-owned shipbuilder Navantia has been awarded a contract for the supply of three additional Avante 2200 corvettes for the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF).

The contract, announced by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Defence (MoD) on 11 December, is for three additional units identical to the five Al Jubail (Avante 2200)-class corvettes already in service with the RSNF.

Navantia built the first batch of five Al Jubail-class corvettes for the RSNF based on its Avante 2200 design under a EUR1.8 billion (USD2.03 billion) contract signed in 2018.

First-of-class Al Jubail (828) started construction at Navantia's shipyard in San Fernando, Cádiz, in 2019 and, following its formal handover to the RSNF in March 2022, deployed upon its first operational mission in late September 2022. Unayzah (836), the fifth and final unit, was delivered and commissioned on 31 March 2024. A training agreement for the crews of three further ships was signed in October 2024.

Under the scope of the latest contract, the first follow-on ship will start construction in 2024, with all three to be delivered by 2028.

Navantia said it will be responsible for the delivery of the first unit in Spain. Final outfitting of the second and third units will take place in Saudi Arabia, where installation, integration, and trials of the Hazem combat management system (CMS) will be carried out by the SAMINavantia Naval Industries joint venture (JV), similar to the work carried out on the fourth and fifth units of the first contract. SAMINavantia will supply the complete combat system for all three corvettes, Navantia said.