Saudi Arabia will buy five Avante 2200 Corvettes from the Spanish state-owned shipbuilder Navantia, an Israel Defense newspaper reporting.

The Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) and Spanish firm Navantia on April 12, 2018, signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to create a joint venture that will manage and localize naval combat systems activity including integration and installation. The MoA was signed by Ahmed Al-Khateeb, Chairman of SAMI, and Esteban García Vilasánchez, Chairman of Navantia.

Spain and Saudi Arabia also inked a Letter of Intent (LoI) to design and build five Avante 2200 corvettes including Combat Management System, for the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF). The deal is estimated at 1.8 billion euros ($2.2 billion), and the construction would take five years. The construction of the vessels, which will be managed by Cadiz and Ferrol shipyards, would take five years and involve 6,000 direct and indirect workers.

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According to shipbuilder specifications, the Avante 2200 vessel measures 98.9 meters in length, displaces 2,500 tons and has a maximum speed of 25 knots. The vessel has a crew capacity of 92. It can accommodate a 10t class helicopter and can deploy two 5.5m Rigid-Hulled Inflatable Boats (RHIBs, lightweight, high-performance powerboats constructed with a solid hull, and inflatable tubes or ‘sponsors’ around the outer edge).

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The Avante 2200 can perform a variety of missions, such as surveillance and protection of EEZs, protection of maritime traffic, defense of strategic interests, search and rescue operations, support for other units and humanitarian actions, control of marine pollution, fight against smuggling, drug trafficking and illegal immigration, surveillance and gathering of operational and environmental intelligence, surface defense and passive electronic warfare.