Name Gowind class Subclasses Kership Planned 4 + 2 | Operators Egyptian Navy Building 2 | |
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Builders DCNS
Alexandria Shipyard | ||
The Gowind design is a family of steel monohull corvettes developed since 2006 by DCNS to conduct missions in littoral zone such as anti-submarine warfare (ASW). The Gowind family includes vessels with lengths from 85m to 102m and displacement from 1,000t to 2,500t.
Contents
The Gowind design can deploy Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) and Underwater Unmanned Vehicles (UUVs). An aft deck has been provided allowing for a 10-ton class helicopter or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operations.
The platform's weapon system consists of a multi-functional radar and MICA SAM. It is armed with Exocet anti ship missiles. The propulsion system is based on Combined Diesel and Diesel (CODAD) and includes water-jets for improved maneuverability in shallow waters and high-speed performance. There is no funnel (smokestack) on these ships. The radar and other sensors are mounted on a single central mast thus allowing 360-degree view. DCNS offers two variants of the design: Gowind 1000 and Gowind 2500.
Reorganisation
The Gowind class originally consisted of offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) but after a rearrangement of products DCNS decided to remove the OPV from the Gowind class and develop the OPVs as a class of their own with L'Adroit top of the range. To do so it formed the Kership joint venture with the Piriou shipyard in Concarneau, Brittany in May 2013 to build and market lightly armed and armoured OPVs for customs, fishing and other home security missions. DCNS said this would enable it to concentrate on "developing relations" with clients seeking, heavily armed and armoured warships while Kership handles the more civilian-standard OPVs.
Gowind 1000
The Gowind 1000 is a 1000-ton corvette which is well armed and fast. It is well-suited for protection, escort and embargo naval missions in a littoral environment. The Gowind 1000 can also perform presence, surveillance, intelligence and policing missions. It is armed with:
Gowind 2500
The The Gowind 2500 multi-mission corvette is designed for surveillance, surface and subsurface combat, protection and escort naval missions. It can also perform presence, maritime surveillance and policing missions against trafficking and piracy.
The GOWIND® 2500 capitalizes on DCNS’s developments and know-how in the field of vessel stealth. The vessel is equipped with a helicopter deck for the permanent deployment on the high seas of a heavy aircraft and airborne drones. It is armed with:
Electronic warfare & decoys for Egypt's Gowind 2500:
Egypt
Egypt signed a €1bn contract with French naval systems group DCNS to buy four Gowind 2,500 ton corvettes with an option for two more. Three of the corvettes will be built locally by a shipyard in Alexandria within a technology transfer agreement. It was apparently President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi who decided these were the ships he wanted rather than the Meko A200 being offered by German group ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) or the Sigma corvette proposed by Damen of the Netherlands. The corvettes selected by Egypt would be of the "Combat" type as the vessels are set to be fitted by MBDA's VL Mica surface to air and Exocet anti-ship missiles. Egypt is in talks to buy two additional corvettes.
In April 2015, DCNS started cutting metal for the very first Gowind 2500 corvette under construction in Lorient, in the presence of high representatives of the Egyptian Navy. Construction of the first vessel will take 29 months, it is the first of a series of four units that will be delivered to Egypt before 2019. The corvette's first block was laid in the dry dock in September 2015. DCNS celebrated the launch of the first Egyptian Gowind 2500 corvette El Fateh (971) in September 2016. The float out took place at the Lorient naval shipyard and was attended by high representatives of the Egyptian Navy. Delivery of the vessel is set for 2017.
In April 2016, Alexandria Shipyard started cutting metal for the first Gowind 2500 corvette built in Egypt, in the presence of high representatives of the Egyptian Navy and of DCNS technical assistance and management teams. DCNS has sent supervision and technical assistance teams to Alexandria for the construction of three corvettes through technology transfer, and will deliver all technical data required for the construction of the corvettes as well as necessary components. DCNS also provides training of the Egyptian shipyard staff at DCNS site in Lorient.
Malaysia
See Second Generation Patrol Vessel
Malaysia is designing and building 6 stealth frigates displacing 3100 tons, based on the design of the Gowind corvette.