The Egyptian Navy has taken delivery of Port Said (ENS 976), the first Gowind-class corvette built at the Alexandria Shipyard.
While the first to be built in Egypt, Port Said is the second in its class to join Egyptian Navy service. The lead ship – ENS El Fateh – was built by French shipbuilder Naval Group and delivered to Egypt in 2017.
Egypt is building another three ships in the class under a transfer of technology agreement with Naval Group.
Port Said was handed over to the navy on January 6 after being launched in September 2018. Meanwhile, all three ships that were to be built by Alexandria Shipyard, Port Said, El Moez and Luxor, are in the water.
The 102-meter corvettes carry a 16-cell vertical launch system (VLS) for Mica surface to air missiles, Exocet anti-ship missile launchers, a 76 mm main gun, and torpedo launchers. They also feature Naval Group’s SETIS combat management system including Panoramic Sensors and Intelligence Module (PS1M). The ships have facilities for an embarked helicopter and unmanned systems, and are crewed by 65 sailors.
Egypt is celebrating the milestone just days after it welcomed its second FREMM frigate. ENS Al-Galala (1002) arrived at the Alexandria naval base on December 31 as the first of two frigates that had originally been built for the Italian Navy and subsequently sold to Egypt.
The country previously bought a FREMM frigate from France and named it Tahya Misr.
In addition to surface warships, Eqypt is boosting its submarine capabilities with the purchase of four 209/1400mod class submarines from German shipbuilder thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS). The fourth and final submarine was launched in September last year.
