Avante 2000-class corvette

Posted by: Andrei Dcs

Avante 2000 is a class of corvettes designed by the Spanish shipbuilder Navantia.

Navantia built four Avante 2000 corvettes for Venezuela and is building five more for the Saudi Arabia.

To present, only Venezuela and Saudi Arabia have chosen Navantia's Avante-design.

Displacement and dimensions of the Avante 2000 corvettes

Avante 2000 is a corvette with a displacement of 2,419 tons, measuring 99 m (324 ft 10 in) in length.

It has a beam of 13.6 m (44 ft 7 in), a draught of 7.2 m (23 ft 7 in) and a draft of 3.8 m (12 ft).

Propulsion of the Avante-class corvettes

Avante 2000 corvettes use a CODAD-type propulsion with four MTU 12V-1163-TB93 diesel engines, each rated at 4,440 kW (5,950 hp).

Avante corvettes have two shafts with Wärtsilä 5C11 CP propellers.

Speed and range of Navantia's Avante corvettes

Avante 2000 corvette has a maximum speed of 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph).

It can reach a maximum range of 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) achievable at a constant speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).

Complement of the Avantia 2000 corvettes

The Spanish corvette has a standard complement of 60 members and it can additionally host up to 32 persons.

Sensors and processing systems installed on Avante corvettes

The sensors and the processing systems installed onboard the Avantia 2000 corvettes include the Thales SMART-S Mk-2 multifunction radar, Thales Mirador EOTS, Thales Vigile 100 ESM, Thales Scout Mk2 LPI, and the Thales Sting 1.2.

The combat management system is the Thales TACTICOS CMS.

Armament of the Avante 2000 corvettes

The armament installed on the Avante 2000 corvettes is quite modest compared to other modern corvettes.

Avante 2000 is armed with one 76 mm Oto Melara naval gun, one 35 mm Oerlikon Millennium Naval Revolver Gun System and two 12.7 mm machine guns.

Aviation facilities aboard the Avante 2000 corvette

Avante 2000 has a flight deck and a hangar and can host onboard a medium helicopter.

Operators of the Avante 2000 corvettes

So far, only Venezuela and Saudi Arabia acquired Avante 2000 corvettes from Navantia.

Venezuela

Venezuela is the first customer of the Avante 2000 corvettes, the Bolivarian Armada of Venezuela commissioning four of such corvettes.

The Venezuelan ships are designated as Guaiquerí-class and are classified as ocean patrol vessels (OPVs).

The Venezuelan corvettes are PC-21 Guaiquerí, PC-22 Warao, PC-23 Yekuana and PC-24 Kariña.

The first Avante 2000 corvette, the PC-21 Guaiquerí was laid down by Navantia on 11 September 2008, launched in 24 June 2009 and commissioned by the Venezuelan Navy on 14 April 2011.

The second ship of the class, PC-22 Warao, was laid down on 12 May 2009, launched on 3 November 2009, and commissioned on August 2011.

Warao corvette is out of service after a grounding incident in 2012.

The third corvette, PC-23 Yekuana was laid down on 22 September 2009, launched on 1 March 2010 and commissioned by Venezuela on 9 December 2011.

The fourth and last Venezuelan Avante corvette, was laid down by Navantia on 17 February 2010, being launched in 13 July 2010.

The Bolivarian Armada of Venezuela commissioned its last ship in January 2012.

Saudi Arabia

Besides Venezuela, only the Saudi Arabia chose the Avante corvettes.

Saudi Arabia ordered five units.

In Saudi Arabia, Avante 2000 class is designated as Al Jubail-class of corvettes.

The five Saudi ships are Al Jubail, Al Diriyah, Hail, Jazan and Unayzah.

Al Jubail with the hull number of 828 is the first unit of the class.

Al Jubail corvette was laid down by Navantia on 15 January 2019 and lauched on 22 July 2020.

The second unit, Al Diriyah (830), was also laid down in 2019 and launched on 14 November 2020.

The third and fourth units, Hail and Jazan, were laid down on 6 August 2020, and 1 December 2020 respectivelly.

All the ships ordered by Venezuela and Saudi Arabia are built by Navantia in Puerto Real Yard, in the Spanish city of Cadiz.