A new contract was signed after the corvettes delivered by Navantia to Saudi Arabia. In the past weeks, Spanish defence industry company Navantia delivered the third of the five corvettes built for Saudi Arabia, the corvette number 548, HMS HAIL, to Saudi Arabia with a ceremony.

The ceremony held at the San Fernando facilities was attended by Saudi Royal Navy Commander Vice Admiral Fahad Bin Abdullah Al-Ghofaily, Spanish Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism Ms. Reyes Maroto, Navantia President Ricardo Domínguez and SAMI Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Mohammad Alkahtani.  Also, Mayor of San Fernando, Ms. Patricia Cavada, Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Spain Azzam bin Abdulkarim al Qain, Director of National Security Agency Miguel Ángel Ballesteros, Ministry of Defence Procurement Chief (DiGAM) Aniceto Rosique and Spanish Navy Logistics Support Admiral (AJAL) Ricardo Hernández attended the ceremony.

At the delivery ceremony, which took place three years after the agreement signed between Navantia and Saudi Arabia in 2019, the HMS HAIL corvette is expected to perform key tasks in the Saudi Arabian navy.

After the corvettes were delivered, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Defence and the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) signed a memorandum of understanding with Navantia for the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF). With the signed memorandum of understanding, Navantia and Saudi Arabia aim to increase the level of readiness of the RSNF to increase maritime security in the region, protect the vital and strategic interests of Saudi Arabia, and support the strategic, operational and tactical objectives of the Ministry of Defence.

The memorandum of understanding includes naval ship production, integration of combat systems and localization of ship maintenance, in line with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s 2030 vision.

Deputy Minister for Administrative Affairs of the Ministry of Defence Dr. Khaled bin Hussein Al-Bayari added that the Memorandum of Understanding was made under the guidance of wise leadership to strengthen the Kingdom’s global position in the military industrial sector, especially thanks to its strategic geographical location connecting the three continents, making the Kingdom an ideal place for investment in this sector.