Over the last year DCNS has established strategic relations with Egypt in the frame of the modernisation of the country’s surface fleet. France and DCNS sold a
FREMM multi-mission frigate in February 2015 and four
Gowind 2500 corvettes in July 2014. More recently,
it was announced that DCNS would deliver the two fromer Russia bound Mistral class LHDs to Egypt.
The two extra corvettes being propose would joint the existing four on order. According to DCNS, the Gowind 2500 is a reference product on the worldwide corvette market. This vessel responds to the needs of navies to have access to a complete and multi-mission combat vessel for sovereignty and maritime protection operations and the fight against illicit trafficking. Ten corvettes have already been ordered:
Malaysia (6 units)and Egypt (4 units).
to
La Tribune, the Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) being proposed to the Egyptian Navy is the DCNS-built
L'Adroit. OPV Gowind
L’Adroit was built under a self-funded DCNS programme in conjunction with equipment manufacturers contributing high-performance products. OPV Gowind
L’Adroit is
currently leased to the French Navy so that it can evaluate the ship and its systems.
Some of the companies involved in the program includes:
- Schiebel Elektronische Geraete GmbH who equips l’Adroit with the CAMCOPTER®
- TERMA A/S who provides the naval surveillance radar systems
- Sagem provides the EOMS NG multifunction optronic equipment to ensure the ship’s close self-defense within a single system, and SIGMA 40D ring-laser-gyro inertial system for the ship’s navigation and combat system.
- LINKSrechts provides an helicopter Visual Landing aid system
- LACROIX Defence & Security provides the decoy system
- The Thales systems installed on board the OPV ensure intelligence-gathering functions (Altesse and Vigile LW) and operational communications (over HF, UHF and satellite).
- FLIR supplies a gyrostabilised platform FLIR TALON to detect targets night and day.
- Zodiac MILPRO provides two Hurricane Ribs
The fourth vessel would be built by French shipyard Piriou. It would likely come from the Kership range. Kership is held jointly by Piriou (55%) and DCNS (45%).
The patrol vessel could be an OPV50.
This type was ordered by the Gabonese Navy during Euronaval 2014and is the first export success for the newly created joint company Kership.
Offshore patrol vessel OPV50 is a versatile 58-metre ship developed by KERSHIP to undertake various missions related to State Action at Sea. OPV50's major innovations and features include very versatile design that facilitates reorganization to suit the mission; large bridge with 360° view; rapid deployment/retrieval ramp for 2 launches (7 m RHIBs); range of 5,000 nautical miles and excellent sea-keeping qualities.
But Piriou and Kership offer many more patrol vessel designs, some of which you may see at
this link. It is not clear yet which design is actually being proposed to the Egyptian Navy.
