United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based EDGE Group has launched the second BR71 Mk II corvette for the Angolan Navy, the first vessel of its class to be built in the UAE, the company announced on 4 November 2026. The corvette, which will become the Angolan Navy’s NRA Nimi-ya-Lukeni (F301), was built by EDGE subsidiary Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) at its shipyard in Abu Dhabi.
EDGE presents the launch as a milestone in developing the UAE’s sovereign naval shipbuilding capability and in strengthening defence cooperation between the UAE and Angola. “Building the second corvette in Abu Dhabi is what genuine technology transfer should deliver,” said Khaled Al Zaabi, President of Platforms and Systems at EDGE and Chairman of ADSB, according to Naval News. “ADSB has applied that knowledge in its own shipyard, and corvettes for this programme have now been launched in both France and the UAE. This milestone is a credit to the engineers, production teams, technicians and industry partners behind it, and to the trust our Angolan customer has placed in ADSB.”
The ceremony was attended by Angola’s Ambassador to the UAE, Júlio Belarmino Gomes Maiato, alongside Angolan Navy and government representatives and senior EDGE and ADSB leadership.
Launch, fitting out and delivery schedule
Although EDGE described the milestone as a launch, Janes observed that the accompanying imagery showed the corvette on the shiplift rather than afloat; a vessel seen in the water alongside the ship lift was a Falaj 3 patrol vessel. An EDGE representative told Janes on 4 November that the second BR71 Mk II was launched in the last week of October 2026, and Naval News reported the ceremony as taking place on 29 October.
The second vessel will now undergo fitting out and testing and is scheduled for delivery in 2027. The first BR71 Mk II, NRA Ekuikui II (F300), launched in Cherbourg, France, in March 2026, is also undergoing fitting out and testing and is scheduled for delivery at the end of 2026, the EDGE representative added, speaking at the Euronaval 2026 exhibition held in Paris from 3 to 6 November. A representative of France’s Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie (CMN) told Janes on 4 November that the third BR71 Mk II is due for delivery to the Angolan Navy in February 2027.
Those dates differ from the schedule reported in March, when the first ship was due in October 2026 and the second and third in April and October 2027. The first delivery has slipped by around two months, while the third ship is now expected earlier than previously stated.
The corvettes form part of a EUR1 billion naval programme contracted in February 2023 that includes the three BR71 Mk IIs. ADSB is the prime contractor, with CMN building the first and third corvettes in Cherbourg. Construction of the second vessel in Abu Dhabi is supported by technology transfer from CMN. ADSB has also delivered 12-metre and 16-metre high-speed interceptors to Angola under the programme, and Military Africa reported in January 2025 on progress on the corvette programme, including the first steel cutting in December 2023.
A larger, better-armed Baynunah
The 71-metre Combattante BR71 Mk II is a substantial evolution and upgrade of CMN’s Baynunah-class (BR71 Mk I) corvette, six of which are in service with the UAE Navy. Designed by CMN Naval for littoral warfare, the BR71 corvette is built to counter air and surface threats and to carry out surveillance missions. The company describes it as a fast, powerful, compact and modular warship.
According to CMN, the Mk II design incorporates major technological improvements while drawing on proven operational experience, and the platform and its combat system have been validated in real-world conditions, which the company describes as sea-proven and combat-proven.
The ship has a length overall (LOA) of 70.30 metres and a length between perpendiculars of 62.3 metres, a maximum breadth of 11 metres and a depth to the main deck of 6 metres. Full load displacement is approximately 900 tonnes, with a maximum draught of around 3 metres.
The corvette reaches a maximum speed of 30 knots at half load and cruises at 12 knots, with a range of 2,500 nautical miles at cruising speed. Its 100-tonne fuel capacity gives an endurance of 15 days, and it accommodates a crew of 50. Four MTU diesel engines in two engine rooms drive four Kongsberg waterjets, two steering jets and two booster jets, which give the ship its manoeuvrability and speed.
The design is built around operational adaptability, with provision for Class II unmanned aircraft system (UAS) operations and a 5-tonne helicopter. The UAS was expected to be one of the naval unmanned vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) systems in EDGE’s portfolio, and the type has since been confirmed: each corvette will carry two ANAVIA HT-100 NAVAL unmanned helicopters, and EDGE delivered all six to Angola in September 2026 after factory acceptance trials in Bilten, Switzerland. The modular layout supports a range of mission requirements, while two 7.5-metre rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIBs) with davit launch and recovery systems support boarding, rescue and inspection tasks.
Exocet, VL MICA and Mistral 3
The armament includes eight MBDA MM40 Exocet Block 3C surface-to-surface missiles (SSM) and a Leonardo OTO 76/62 Super Rapido main gun. Directly behind the main gun is a row of eight vertical launching system (VLS) cells for MBDA VL MICA surface-to-air missiles (SAM). Atop the RHIB hangar, two MBDA SIMBAD-RC trainable launchers carry a total of four fire-and-forget Mistral 3 SAMs.
Amidships, between the main mast and the SSM launchers, are two Leonardo Lionfish remote weapon stations (RWS), likely the Lionfish 20 mm variant, which will also be installed on the Greek Kimon-class (FDI HN) frigates and the upgraded Island-class coastal patrol vessels. Near the SSM launchers are two decoy launching systems (DLS), confirmed to be the Lacroix SYLENA LW.
Leonardo sensors and an Elettronica EW suite
The sensor suite includes a Leonardo KRONOS NAVAL HP C-band multi-function radar (MFR) enclosed in the conical radome of the integrated mast atop the bridge, a Leonardo NA-25X fire control radar (FCR) and a Leonardo Medusa Mk4 electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) system positioned forward of the radar dome. A small mast at the rear, above the RHIB bay, carries communication equipment.
Above the radar dome is the ELT/332 integrated radar and communications electronic support measures (R-ESM and C-ESM) and communications intelligence (COMINT) sensor, provided by ELT Group (Elettronica), a contract Military Africa reported in February 2023. The ELT/332 is also deployed on the two Musherib-class fast attack craft (FACM) of the Qatari Emiri Navy and the two Bani Yas-class (Gowind 2800) corvettes of the UAE. As most of the sensor suite is supplied by Leonardo, the combat management system (CMS) is the ATHENA C Mk2. Overall, the electronic equipment layout closely resembles that of the UAE Navy’s Falaj 3-class armed offshore patrol vessels (OPVs).
Angola’s new reach in the Gulf of Guinea
The three corvettes will be the most capable surface combatants in the Angolan Navy, which has relied on ageing Soviet-era fast attack craft and smaller patrol vessels. They will work alongside landing ships and patrol craft supplied by CMN, including the 70-metre landing ship delivered in 2023, and the HT-100 drones will extend surveillance over Angola’s long Atlantic coastline and offshore oil fields. With the first ship due at the end of 2026, the Angolan Navy is about to receive missile-armed corvettes with layered air defence, and the next test for EDGE and ADSB will be bringing the Abu Dhabi-built F301 through trials on the 2027 schedule they have now set.