EDGE Launches Second Angolan Navy Corvette, the First of Its Class Built in the UAE

According to Naval News, the vessel, NRA Nimi-ya-Lukeni (F301), was launched on 29 October 2026 at the Abu Dhabi shipyard of Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB), which is part of EDGE. The company announced the launch on 4 November. Angola's ambassador to the UAE attended, along with representatives of EDGE, ADSB, the Angolan Navy and the Angolan government.

The 71-metre ship is the second of three corvettes ordered under a €1 billion contract signed in 2023. The first ship, NRA Ekuikui II (F300), was designed and built by France's CMN Naval and launched in Cherbourg in March 2026. Building the second hull in Abu Dhabi followed a transfer of technology to ADSB, according to the report.

Khaled Al Zaabi, president of platforms and systems at EDGE and chairman of ADSB, said: "Building the second corvette in Abu Dhabi is what genuine technology transfer should deliver."

The Ship and Its Systems

The Combattante BR71 MK II is a development of CMN's Baynunah-class corvette, which serves in the UAE Navy. Naval News gives the ship a length of 70.30 metres, a displacement of about 900 tons and a crew of 50. It has a top speed of 30 knots and a range of 2,500 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 12 knots. Four MTU diesel engines drive four Kongsberg waterjets.

The ship carries eight MBDA Exocet MM40 Block 3C anti-ship missiles, a Leonardo 76mm main gun, eight vertical-launch MICA air-defence cells and MISTRAL 3 short-range missiles. Its sensors include a Leonardo KRONOS NAVAL radar, and it uses the ATHENA C Mk2 combat management system.

Each corvette will also carry two HT-100 NAVAL vertical take-off and landing drones made by ANAVIA, EDGE's Switzerland-based unit. Six of the systems were delivered after factory acceptance trials in Bilten, Switzerland, in August 2026. ADSB has also supplied 12-metre and 16-metre high-speed interceptor boats for the Angolan programme.

Why It Matters

The launch is a sign of the UAE's push to build complex naval platforms at home rather than only buy them from abroad, and of EDGE's growing role as an exporter of defence equipment to Africa. Moving construction of a European-designed warship class to an Abu Dhabi yard gives ADSB a reference project it can show other navies looking for corvettes. Reports differ on how the three hulls are split between the French and Emirati yards. EDGE's November announcement describes the Abu Dhabi-built ship as the second of the three.