The fifth Al Jubail-class ordered by the Royal Saudi Navy (Al-Quwwat al-Bahriyah al-Arabiyah as-Saudiyah) to Spanish shipyard Navantia was launched in presence of Commander of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF), Lt. Gen. Admiral Fahd bin Abdullah Al-Ghufaili. The ceremonial launching was attended by the Saudi Military Attaché to Madrid; Vice President of Saudi Arabian Military Industries Company “SAMI” for military purchase sector Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Azl; a number of RSNF senior officers; a number of senior officials from the Spanish Navy; representatives from “Sami-Navantia” and “Spanish Navantia” companies and other parties. The corvette was officially named, His Majesty’s Ship “Unayzah”, as part of its ceremonial launching held at the shipyard of the Navantia Naval Industries Co., in the city of San Fernando, Cadiz.
In July 2018 it was announced that Navantia had signed an agreement with the Royal Saudi Navy for the production of five Avante 2000 corvettes with the last to be delivered by 2022 at a cost of approximately 2 billion Euros. The Avante 2000 is a corvette design by the Navantia shipyard of Spain. Navantia has developed a Avante family of ships with different sizes but adapted to different missions and sharing the same design standard. Spanish shipbuilder Navantia signed a joint-venture agreement with state-owned Saudia Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) to build five corvettes based on Avante 2000 for Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF). Under the agreement, the last vessel must be delivered in 2024, including construction, Life Cycle Support for five years, with an option for another five years. The RSNF variant is called Avante 2200.
The Saudi Arabian variant is a 2,000-ton class vessel capable of performing anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASuW) and anti-air warfare (AAW). The Al Jubail-class corvette (Avante 2200) has a length of 104 metres, a beam of 14 metres and will be able to accommodate 102 people (crew and additional personnel). Navantia integrated multiple systems, including its Catiz combat management system, Hermesys integrated communications system, Dorna fire-control system and Minerva integrated bridge system. The Al Jubail-class corvette has a maximum range of 4,500 nautical miles, achieving 25 knots powered by four diesel engines in CODAD arrangement. The Al Jubail-class is fitted with Leonardo SUPER RAPID 76mm main gun, Rheinmetall Air Defence MILLENNIUM 35mm close-in weapon system, four 12.7mm machine guns, 2×3 torpedo tubes, 2×4 anti-ship missiles and 32 ESSM surface-to-air missiles (8-cell Mk 41).
