El Fateh-class corvette (Gowind 2500)

El Fateh-class corvette (Gowind 2500) 0El Fateh-class corvette (Gowind 2500) 1El Fateh-class corvette (Gowind 2500) 2

Basic information

Type:
Parent class:
Operators:
Country of build:
Planned:
4
Completed:
4
In service:
2017 – present (7 years)

Ship measurements

Displacement:
2,500 t
Length:
102 m

Machine

Propulsion system:
Speed:
28 knots
Range:
3,700 nmi (6,900 km; 4,300 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)

Personnel

Complement:
65

Combat assets

Electronics:
  • SMART-S MK2 3D radar
  • CAPTAS-2 variable depth sonar
  • SETIS combat system by Naval Group
  • VIGILE 200 Tactical R-ESM System
  • ALTESSE Naval C-ESM
Armament:
  • 1 * OTO Melara 76 mm main gun
  • 2 * Nexter Narwhal 20 mm cannon
  • 16 * VLS for VL Mica surface-to-air missiles
  • 8 * MBDA MM40 Exocet anti-ship missile launchers
  • 2 * triple torpedo launchers
Aircraft:
  • 1 * 5-tons helicopter or 1 * 10-tons helicopter (supported)
  • Schiebel Camcopter S-100

The Gowind 2500 multi-mission corvette is designed for surveillance, surface and subsurface combat, protection and escort naval missions. It can also perform presence, maritime surveillance and policing missions against trafficking and piracy.

The Gowind 2500 capitalizes on Naval Group's expertise in vessel stealth. The vessel is equipped with facilities for an embarked helicopter and drones.

Egypt

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, with a planned construction period of 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. Naval Group celebrated the launch of the first Egyptian Gowind corvette El Fateh 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, 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 company also provided training for the Egyptian staff at its site in Lorient. All the Panoramic Sensors and Intelligence Modules (PSIM) were produced and tested in Lorient by Naval Group and later shipped to Alexandria for installation on the corvettes. The launching ceremony of the second Gowind corvette Port Said took place in September 2018 in Alexandria.

Construction work on the third vessel has already started, its first block was laid in the dry dock by July 2018.

United Arab Emirates

In mid-June 2019, Naval Group announced that the United Arab Emirates Navy had signed a contract on 25 March 2019 for Euro750 million (USD850m) for two 2500 class frigates (actually weighing 2,700 tonnes) with options for two more, to be built in partnership with Abu Dhabi Ship Building Company (ADSB). They will be equipped with Naval Group's SETIS combat management system, MBDA's Exocet missile, Raytheon's Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles.

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