UAE to buy two Gowind-class corvettes from France

Gowind-class corvette. Credit: Naval Group.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has expressed interest in purchasing two new French-made Gowind-class multi-mission corvettes.

Both vessels will be designed and constructed by French arms industry company Naval Group (formerly DCNS) in collaboration with UAE-based firm Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB).

The partnership forms part of the wider UAE Naval Development Strategy and also includes an option for two additional vessels from Naval Group.

Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.

The bilateral defence cooperation and partnership between the two nations was recently strengthened during a visit by French Republic President Emmanuel Macron to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The Gowind-class vessels have been operated by the French Navy since 2012 and feature advanced seakeeping and military capabilities, which makes them well-suited for conducting a variety of missions such as sovereignty enforcement.

Naval Group’s Gowind-class vessels were previously selected for deployment by the Malaysian and Egyptian navies.

The company started the construction of the very first Gowind 2500 corvette in Lorient for the Egyptian Navy in April 2015.

It is the first of a series of four ships scheduled for delivery to the Navy before 2019.

The first vessel was delivered to the Egyptian Navy in September.

The Gowind 2500 platform combines stealth features, resilience and high availability with anti-air warfare (AAW), anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and anti-surface warfare (ASuW) capabilities.