Spanish Navantia to Localize Warship Parts Production in Saudi Arabia

Navantia has signed with the Ministry of Defence of Saudi Arabia a follow-on support contract for services associated to the life cycle support of the first batch of five corvettes already delivered, with a duration of five years.

The agreement comprises a localization plan that includes training, transfer of knowledge for spare parts to be produced in the Kingdom, among others, as part of the localization commitment with the Kingdom.

The contract is an increase of the life cycle support services that Navantia is currently providing since the commissioning of the first corvette in 2022.

This new agreement includes an increment of a number of additional technicians for the platform and combat system maintenance and support services, to be executed at King Faisal Naval Base in Jeddah. Also, this contract includes the supply of spare parts for the five corvettes.

The corvettes are based on the AVANTE 2200 design, adapted to the requirements of Saudi Arabia, offering the capability to operate in extreme high temperatures such as in the Gulf area.

The contract for the construction of five corvettes came into force in November 2018 and, since the launching of this first unit (in July 2020), Navantia launched the five units with a cadence of four months between each of them, which meant achieving this milestone in a record time of 3 years.