Fincantieri Launches 4th Al Zubarah-Class Corvette for Qatar

The launching of the corvette “Sumaysimah”, the fourth of the Al Zubarah-class (or Doha-class) of four vessels ordered to Fincantieri by Qatar took place at the Muggiano (La Spezia) shipyard on Tuesday.

The ceremony was attended by H.E. Khalid bin Yousef Al-Sada, Ambassador of The State of Qatar to Italy, Brigadier Rashid Al Qashouti, Chief of Staff Representative of Qatar Armed Forces, Brigadier Ali Ameen, Chief of Qatar Navy Representative, Major General Staff Hilal Al Muhannadi, Defense Attaché of the State of Qatar in Rome, Rear Admiral Riccardo Marchiò, Italian Navy MCM Force Commander, and by Marco Acca, Deputy General Manager Naval Vessel Division of Fincantieri.

A contract valued reportedly valued €5 billion (including €1 billion for missiles) was announced in August 2017. In addition to four air defense corvettes, the contract includes the construction of two OPV/FACM type ships based on the Falaj 2-class (selected by the UAE Navy) and an air defense LPD (fitted with long range L-band radar and ASTER 30 SAM) based on the “BDSL Kalaat Beni Abbes” (143 meters long, 9,000 tonnes displacement), which was delivered in 2015 by Fincantieri to Algeria.

The Al Zubarah-class corvettes are capable of fulfilling different kinds of tasks, from surveillance with sea rescue capacities to being fighting vessels. They will be about 107 meters long, 14.70 meters wide, and equipped with a combined diesel and diesel plant (CODAD), with a maximum speed of 28 knots. The units will be able to accommodate 112 persons on board.

Furthermore, the corvettes will be capable of operating high-speed boats such as RHIB (Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat) through lateral cranes or a hauling ramp located at the far stern. The flight deck and hangar are sized for hosting one NH90 helicopter.

The armament package likely includes a Leonardo 76/62 mm Super Rapido Multi-Feeding main caliber gun, two 8-cell VLS Sylver A50 for medium-range surface-to-air missile systems which MBDA has indicated as the Aster 30 Block 1 munitions as part of the SAAM-ESD air-defense system. The inner layer defense is provided by RAM-System Mk 31 guided missile system with a 21-cell launching system for the Rolling Airframe Missile and two 30 mm Marlin-WS remotely control weapon systems. The Qatar MoD has acquired the RAM Block 2 munitions. The ASuW armament include two-quad launchers for MBDA Exocet MM40 Block 3 anti-ship missiles.