Navantia successfully carried out at the launching of Jazan, the fourth of five corvettes built for the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (Al-Quwwat al-Bahriyah al-Malakiyah as-Sa’udiyah) on July 24. The ceremony was held in slipway number 2 at the San Fernando shipyard, and was attended by the Commander of the Royal Saudi Navy, Vice Admiral Fahad Bin Abdullah Al-Ghofaily; the Admiral Chief of Staff of the Navy (AJEMA), Admiral General Antonio Martorell Lacave; the president of the State Society of Industrial Participations (SEPI), Belén Gualda; the president of Navantia, Ricardo DomÃnguez; the vice president of Saudi Arabia Military Industries (SAMI), Wael Alsarhan, representing the CEO of the company, Walid Abukhaled, who has attended the event online and the mayor of San Fernando, Patricia Cavada. The launching ceremony has been carried out with sanitary security measures.
The Al Jubail-class (Avante 2000) corvette Jazan has a length of 104 metres, a beam of 14 metres and will be able to accommodate 102 people (crew and additional personnel). 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 corvettes are the latest generation of successful Navantia-designed combatants, and incorporate state-of-the-art Navantia products, such as the CATIZ Combat System, DORNA Gun Fire Control System, NAVCOMS/HERMESYS Integrated External and Internal Communications System, MINERVA Integrated Navigation and Bridge System, or COMPLEX-SIMPLEX Integrated Platform Management Platform together with equipment manufactured by Navantia under license such as the Leonardo SUPER RAPID 76mm main gun, Rheinmetall Air Defence MILLENNIUM 35mm close-in weapon system, MTU propulsion engines and diesel generators, and RENK gearboxes.
In July 2018, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned defence company has forged a deal with Spanish shipbuilder Navantia for a joint venture to build five warships. The agreement with Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) for the design and construction of five Avante 2200 corvettes warships will start this autumn, with the last unit to be delivered by 2022. The agreement appears part of a framework agreed in April during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Spain for Navantia to provide warships to the Gulf state for around two billion euros ($2.3 billion). Saudi Arabian Military Industries says it aims to become a major player in the global defence industry and localise more than half of the kingdom’s military spending by 2030. AL-JUBAIL, hull number 828, has been successfully built despite the slowdown in activity caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
