The 3rd Gowind corvette built in Egypt by Egyptian firm Alexandria Shipyard in collaboration with Naval Group successfully completed her first sea trials. The completion of sea trials for the third vessel, known as ENS El Moez (981), is a milestone achievement and showcases strong cooperation between France and Egypt. In 2014, Naval Group, previously known as DCNS, was awarded contract to develop four Gowind-class corvettes for the Egyptian Navy.
This new milestone demonstrates once more the success of the transfer of technology & production and their strong industrial cooperation.
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. Egypt is in talks with France to acquire another two Gowind corvettes which, if ordered, would be produced by France in Lorient.
In April 2015, Naval Group started cutting metal for the very first Gowind 2500 corvette. It is the first of a series of four units that will be delivered to Egypt before 2019. The Egyptian Navy took delivery of the vessel in September 2017, three years after the order was placed. Alexandria Shipyard started cutting metal for the second Gowind corvette intended for the Egyptian Navy in April 2016, it is the first corvette to be built locally in Egypt. Naval Group sent supervision and technical assistance teams, technical data and necessary components to Alexandria for assisting Egypt in the local construction of the three corvettes.
The Gowind design is a family of steel monohull frigates, corvettes and offshore patrol vessels developed since 2006 by France’s Naval Group to conduct missions in the littoral zone such as anti-submarine warfare (ASW). The Gowind family includes vessels with lengths from 85 to 111 metres and displacement from 1,000 tons to 3,100 tons. The platform’s weapon system consists of a multi-functional radar and MICA surface-to-air missiles (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.
