Avante 2200-class (Al Jubail-class)

The Avante 2200 is a corvette design by the Spanish shipbuilder Navantia, part of its Avante family of ships of different sizes built to a common design standard. Navantia offers it with its own systems: the Catiz combat management system, Hermesys integrated communications, Dorna fire control and the Minerva integrated bridge. The hull is about 99 m long and displaces about 2,400 t. Propulsion is CODAD, with four diesels, giving a speed of 25 kt and a range of 4,500 nmi. A flight deck and hangar accommodate one helicopter.

Venezuela was the first customer, taking four ships as the Guaiquerí class of ocean patrol vessels, designated POVZEE (Patrullero Oceánico de Vigilancia de la Zona Económica Exclusiva). The lead ship was launched at Cádiz on 24 June 2009; the first was commissioned in April 2011 and the last in January 2012. The Venezuelan ships have reduced radar and infrared signatures, low-noise propulsion and carry two RHIBs. On 3 August 2012 Warao grounded on a reef off Fortaleza, Brazil, while arriving for the VenBras-2012 exercise. She was refloated with the help of her sister ship Kariña and Brazilian tugs, with heavy damage to the hull and propulsion, and was carried to the Rio de Janeiro naval dockyard by heavy-lift ship in March 2013 for repair with Navantia's assistance. On 31 March 2016 an accidental gun discharge aboard Guaiquerí killed at least one person and injured six. The current inventory lists three ships: Guaiquerí, Yekuana and Kariña.

Saudi Arabia signed a contract in July 2018 for five ships, worth about €1.8 billion, as the Al Jubail class. These are multi-mission corvettes for anti-submarine, anti-surface and anti-air warfare, armed with a Leonardo Super Rapid 76 mm gun, a Rheinmetall Millennium 35 mm close-in weapon system, four 12.7 mm machine guns, two triple torpedo tubes, two quadruple anti-ship missile launchers and a 16-cell Mk 41 vertical launcher carrying 64 ESSM. Their Hazem combat system is integrated by SAMI Navantia, a joint venture of Saudi Arabian Military Industries and Navantia. The fourth and fifth ships were completed in Saudi Arabia, at Jeddah. Deliveries began in 2022, and the fifth, Unaizah (836), was commissioned in March 2024. The five are Al Jubail, Al Diriyah, Hail, Jazan and Unaizah.

On 11 December 2024 Saudi Arabia ordered three more identical ships. The first is built in Spain, while the second and third are finished in Saudi Arabia, with the last delivery due in 2028. The deal includes the training of more than 100 Saudi engineers, block construction for the third ship in Saudi Arabia, crew training at Rota, and the transfer of the Avante 2200 design's intellectual property to Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Military Industries for future corvettes. The first of the three, Al Madinah, is fitting out; Neom and AlUla are on order.