EDGE has launched the NRA Nimi-ya-Lukeni (F301), the first BR71 MK II multi-mission corvette of its class to be constructed in the United Arab Emirates.
The 71m vessel entered the water at the company’s shipbuilding entity Abu Dhabi Ship Building’s (ADSB) Abu Dhabi shipyard on 29 October.
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The corvette is the second of three vessels covered by a €1bn ($1.12bn) contract signed in 2023. The first, NRA Ekuikui II (F300), was designed and built by CMN Naval and launched at Cherbourg in France in March 2026.
The programme also includes 12m and 16m high-speed interceptors, which ADSB has delivered to Angola.
Each BR71 MK II corvette will carry two HT-100 Naval vertical take-off and landing uncrewed helicopters supplied by ANAVIA, the Swiss-based EDGE company.
The aircraft will be integrated with each vessel’s combat management system.
ANAVIA has delivered all six helicopters following factory acceptance trials held at its facility in Bilten, Switzerland, in August 2026, according to EDGE.
The launch ceremony was attended by Angola’s ambassador to the UAE, Júlio Belarmino Gomes Maiato, as well as representatives from EDGE, ADSB, the Angolan Navy, the Angolan government and industry partners.
EDGE platform and systems president and ADSB chairman Khaled Al Zaabi said: “Building the second corvette in Abu Dhabi is what genuine technology transfer should deliver. ADSB has applied that knowledge in its own shipyard, and corvettes for this programme have now been launched in both France and the UAE.
“This milestone is a credit to the engineers, production teams, technicians and industry partners behind it, and to the trust our Angolan customer has placed in ADSB.”
