According to navalpost, the corvette Unayzah was launched on 4 December
This is the fifth Avante 2200 corvette for the Royal Saudi Navy, under construction at the shipyards in Cadiz Bay
The ship's name, inspired by the name of the city of Unayzah, is located north of the country's capital
The Commander of the Royal Saudi Navy stated during the occasion that the launch of the five corvettes
on such a short and demanding schedule was a great achievement
and a strong indication of Navantia’s dedication to meeting each milestone of the project with high standards of quality
The corvette’s construction will continue in the ocean until her arrival in Spain in August 2023
The vessel will be finished in Saudi Arabia and delivered in February 2024
The “Unayzah” corvette has a length of 104 meters, a beam of 14, and can accommodate a total of 102 people
It will reach a maximum speed of 27 knots and, among other aspects, it has the capacity to carry 21 days’ supplies on board
The Avante 2200 corvettes’ design is cutting-edge, while maximizing Navantia’s participation by incorporating its own products
such as the CATIZ combat system, the HERMESYS integrated communications system, the DORNA fire direction, the Integrated Control System
Platform, and the MINERVA integrated bridge, as well as other equipment developed under license by Navantia
such as MTU motors and RENK gearboxes
This deal, which has been in effect since November 2018
enhances Navantia’s near future and helps all of the company’s shipyards and ancillary industry, particularly the entire Bay of Cádiz
The Saudi Arabian variant is a 2,000-ton class vessel capable of performing anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and anti-air warfare
The class is fitted with Leonardo SUPER RAPID 76mm main gun
Rheinmetall Air Defence MILLENNIUM 35mm close-in weapon system, four 12.7mm machine guns
2x3 torpedo tubes, 2x4 anti-ship missiles and 32 ESSM surface-to-air missiles
When completed, this will be the powerful surface fleet of Saudi Arabia