Naval Group is proud to have delivered on Friday 22 September 2017 its first Gowind® 2500 corvette to the Egyptian Navy. The ceremony took place in Lorient in the presence of Admiral Ahmed Khaled, commander in chief of the Egyptian Navy, Hervé Guillou, President and CEO of Naval Group and senior officials of the French Navy and the French armament procurement agency. This vessel, ten units ordered so far, complements the group’s extensive range of surface ships and submarines. Delivered just 36 months after the order was placed, the corvette ENS ELFATEH will take to the seas on 23 September to sail to its home port in Egypt. This vessel is the first of the four units ordered by the Egyptian Navy.
In 2014, Egypt signed a €1bn contract with Naval Group to buy four Gowind 2,500-ton corvettes with an option for two more. Separately, MBDA negotiated a contract to equip the ships with MICA Vertical Launch air-defense missiles and MM40 Block 3 Exocet anti-ship missiles, together worth an additional 400 million euros, while Naval Group negotiated a 100-200 million euro contract for torpedoes. Three of the corvettes are to be built locally by Alexandria Shipyard within a technology transfer agreement. It was apparently President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi who decided these were the ships he wanted rather than the Meko A200 being offered by German group ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) or the Sigma corvette proposed by Damen of the Netherlands.
In April 2015, Naval Group started cutting metal for the very first Gowind 2500 corvette under construction in Lorient, in the presence of high representatives of the Egyptian Navy. Construction of the first vessel took 29 months, it is the first of a series of four units that will be delivered to Egypt before 2019. The corvette’s first block was laid in the dry dock in September 2015.[16] Naval Group celebrated the launch of the first Egyptian Gowind corvette EL FATEH (971) at the Lorient naval shipyard in September 2016. EL FATEH successfully concluded its first sea trials by the end of March 2017. The Egyptian Navy took Delivery of the vessel in September 2017, 3 years after the order was placed.
In April 2016, Alexandria Shipyard started cutting metal for the first Gowind 2500 corvette built in Egypt, in the presence of senior representatives of the Egyptian Navy and of Naval Group technical assistance and management teams. Naval Group sent supervision and technical assistance teams to Alexandria for assisting Egypt in the local construction in technology transfer of the three following corvettes. The company delivered all technical data and necessary components required for the construction process. Naval Group also provided training for the Egyptian shipyard staff at the company’s site in Lorient.
The particularly modular design of the Gowind® corvette allowed Naval Group to respond to the specific expectations of the Egyptian Navy, whilst ensuring particularly attractive delivery lead times. The same Gowind® design is now offered to other clients keen to acquire a high-performance and “sea-proven” vessel, which demonstrated during its sea trials that it fully delivers on all its promises.
Six units of the Gowind® 2500 corvette have also been ordered by Malaysia. On 24 August 2017, Naval Group’s Malaysian partner, Boustead Naval Shipyards, thus floated the 1st corvette intended for the Royal Malaysian Navy.
The Gowind design is a family of steel monohull corvettes developed since 2006 by Naval Group, formerly known as DCNS, to conduct missions in littoral zone such as anti-submarine warfare (ASW). The Gowind family includes vessels with lengths from 85 m to 102 m and displacement from 1,000 t to 2,500 t.
The Gowind design can deploy Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) and Underwater Unmanned Vehicles (UUVs). An aft deck has been provided allowing for a 10-ton class helicopter or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operations.
The platform’s weapon system consists of a multi-functional radar and MICA SAM. It is armed with Exocet anti ship missiles. The propulsion system is based on Combined Diesel and Diesel (CODAD) and includes water-jets for improved maneuverability in shallow waters and high-speed performance. There is no funnel (smokestack) on these ships. The radar and other sensors are mounted on a single central mast thus allowing 360-degree view. Naval Group offers two variants of the design: Gowind 1000 and Gowind 2500.
The Gowind® 2500 corvette is packed with the very latest technological advances, developed and implemented by Naval Group for naval defence. It integrates SETIS®, the latest generation of combat systems developed by Naval Group, the “Panoramic Sensors and Intelligence Module (PSIM)” – an assembly that combines the integrated mast with its different sensors and the Control Room and associated technical rooms – and the high level of integration and automation of Naval Group user-friendly systems.
• Displacement: 2,600 tonnes
• Maximum speed: 25 knots
• Crew: 80 persons (including the helicopter detachment)
• Range: 3,700 nautical miles at 15 knots
