الامارات قد تتخلي عن الESSM في تسليح الجويند. والتسليح سوف يكون الMICA NG
الامريكان رفضوا توريد الblock2 واقترحوا الblock1 وقوبل مقترحهم برفض اماراتي صريح .
UAE Navy Selects VL MICA NG For Its Gowind Corvettes
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Navy's new Gowind corvettes will be fitted with VL Mica NG from MBDA in place of ESSM as initially planned. Naval Group launched the second corvette, Al Emarat, on 13 May 2022.
Naval News recently learned from three different industry sources about the selection of the VL MICA NG surface to air missile by MBDA. As reported previously, the initial plan of the UAE Navy was to fit both the ESSM and RAM (both systems by Raytheon) aboard those corvettes.
Contacted in late 2021 about where the integration of ESSM would take place (in France or in the UAE), a Raytheon spokesperson advised Naval News to contact NAVSEA. NAVSEA didn’t get back to us at the time.
With the first ship-in-class, Bani Yas, currently outfitting at the Naval Group shipyard in Lorient following its launch in December 2021, Naval News learned that the UAE ended-up selecting the VL MICA NG following the refusal of the United States to export the ESSM Block 2 missile. Naval News understands the decision may be related to the (now cancelled) construction of a Chinese naval base in the UAE but could not obtain a formal confirmation. According to our sources, the United States were seemingly OK to greenlight the export of ESSM Block 1 but the UAE insisted in procuring the latest, Block 2, variant. Faced with the American refusal, the UAE finally opted for the VL MICA NG. According to our information, the corvettes will also be fitted with RAM (as initially planned).
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Navy's new Gowind corvettes will be fitted with VL Mica NG from MBDA in place of ESSM as initially planned. Naval Group launched the second corvette, Al Emarat, on 13 May 2022.
www.navalnews.com