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Walk Like An Emirati

Al Emarat, UAE second Gowind corvette after her launch. Naval Group.

SHAH ALAM: Walk like an Emirati. Naval Group of France launched on May 13 the second Gowind corvette for the United Arab Emirates. The ship is the second of two corvettes ordered by UAE in 2019. The first ship was launched in December, 2021. The launch of the second corvette was announced on May 20.

Al Emarat, the second UAE Gowind corvette being floated out on May 13. Naval Group

Release from Naval Group:

On May 13th 2022, Al Emarat, the second Gowind® corvette ordered by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Naval Group, has been launched in Lorient in presence of an official delegation from the United Arab Emirates Navy.

In 2019, the United Arab Emirates ordered two Gowind® corvettes to be built in France. The first corvette, Bani Yas, was launched in December 2021. The second one, Al Emarat, has been launched on May 13th in the Naval Group Lorient shipyard.

Naval Group, as a turn-key solution provider, will also train the UAE Navy’s crew from the equipment level up to the operational level. Starting in France, this preparation will continue with team-building and practice on operational scenarios in every warfare area in the Gulf.

Stéphane Frémont, Director of Surface Ship Programs at Naval Group, said: “The launching of Gowind® Al Emarat is a major industrial and symbolic milestone, where the corvette reaches her natural environment. The two Bani Yas class vessels benefit from the modular design of the Gowind® family and are the perfect asset to help the UAE Navy meet the challenges of today and tomorrow thanks to the most advanced technologies.”

Gowind® enjoys significant commercial success as 12 units have already been sold. Most of them are built locally through Transfer of Technology and partnerships with local industry, for example in Egypt where three units are now in service within the Egyptian Navy.

Al Emarat being towed to her berth following the launch. Naval Group.

Like the Egyptian, the Emiratis clearly felt it was necessary to get the ships first, despite having a quite large defence industry. Unlike some people we know.

— Malaysian Defence

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Marhalim Abas: Shah Alam

View Comments (19)

  • Clearly shows the difference between building at OEM yard vs local yard, between getting off the shelf OEM design vs local bs redesign, between a Govt that has money to pay for the entirety vs a Govt that don't.

  • We have the money lah, just the fact that ours think it will be great to spread over most of the money to their friends and some of it to the rakyat.

  • Constructing them here provides revenue to BNS, creates jobs, enables local vendors and agents to gain revenue; supposedly benefits our ability to construct ships and gives bragging rights. Why on earth should we want to chose the less risky, faster and cheaper option of having them constructed in France.

  • To be fair localizations only add about 10-15% of the cost.

    The savings gain from cancelling 2 LMS to be built here or the austal vs HHI offers for Philippines navy OPV is around that numbers.

    Thus It's Pointless to blame our locals boy while closing one eyes to the huge chunk of money being paid to overseas contractor to Jerry rig a non compliance platform so it meet the requirements.

    But then again the emirati is also buying a ship that's doesn't fully fullfil their navy requirements.

  • It's their money...Ten localisation project - from your own calculations - means we are losing some RM1.5 billion for every RMK. A lot of money, as we only spend around RM4 to RM5 billion a year on things.

  • 5zaft - ''To be fair localizations only add about 10-15% of the cost.'''

    Even if it only adds 2 percent of the costs it's something we could have avoided. That 2 percent could have been channeled into other areas. The reason we're in the rut we are and we have a MAF whose capabilities don't reflect all we've spent on it is precisely because of that attitude.

    5zaft - ''Thus It’s Pointless to blame our locals boy''

    Who ''blaming'' the ''local boys'' per see? I have no idea as to what exactly led to the delays and overruns but I'm very aware that if there was proper oversight and the the intention was to enable the end user to get a desired capability and the taxpayers their money's worth;; this wouldn't have happened.

    Like many thing this latest ratshit is thanks to decisions made by the government. The conditions which led it to happen were there.

    5zaft - '' while closing one eyes to the huge chunk of money being paid to overseas contractor to Jerry rig''

    ''Overseas contractors'' will do what they are contracted to do. Without the 'overseas contractors'' we wouldn't even have a design to begin with.

    5zaft - ''a ship that’s doesn’t fully fullfil their navy requirements.''

    Really? How so/in what way? Qatar's security is guaranteed by the U.S; it already has a very well funded and equipped military; it's navy does not face the problem of being overstretched and mainly operates in largely confined waters. I fail to see how the Gowind fails to ''fully fullfil requirements''.

  • The true sum of our country’s ability, unable to build warships according to specs, on time and within budget...again and again.

    Yet we believe we can.

  • If we really had sufficient money for LCS, things wouldn't have gone this bad. We budgeted RM 1.5Bil per ship when the actual cost is prolly RM 2Bil, that is where we don't have the money. BNS is also to blame for partly using that money to upgrade their dockyard too.

  • @ Marhalim

    Yes. It does eventually add up but still a drop in the bucket so to speak As out of the usual 100% markup, only 15% goes for local assembly, the other 85% is paid to the OEM for the R&D cost for building a specialized varient.

    Emirati navy originally wanted both ESSM & tacticos if not mistaken.