EDGE Launches Second BR71 MK II Corvette for Angola’s Navy in Abu Dhabi: First Ship Built via Technology Transfer
UAE-based defense group EDGE launched the second BR71 MK II multi-mission corvette built for the Angolan Navy on October 29, 2026, at its Abu Dhabi shipyard. The vessel, named NRA Nimi-ya-Lukeni (F301), is the first ship of its class ever built in the UAE, following a transfer of technology from the original French designer. The ceremony was attended by Angola’s ambassador to the UAE, senior leaders from EDGE and its shipbuilding arm, and representatives of the Angolan Navy, the Angolan government, and industry partners.
Khaled Al Zaabi, EDGE’s President of Platforms & Systems and chairman of Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB), said building the corvette in Abu Dhabi demonstrates what real technology transfer can achieve. He noted that ships in this programme have now been launched in both France and the UAE.
A three-ship, €1 billion programme
The programme covers three BR71 MK II corvettes under a contract worth roughly €1 billion, signed in 2023. The lead ship, NRA Ekuikui II (F300), was designed and built by France’s CMN Naval and launched at Cherbourg in March 2026. Under the same contract, ADSB has also delivered a set of 12-metre and 16-metre high-speed interceptor craft.
The BR71 MK II is an upgraded evolution of CMN’s Baynunah-class design, a corvette already in service with the UAE Navy. Built for littoral warfare, it is meant to counter both air and surface threats while also handling surveillance duties. According to published specifications, the ship measures 70.30 metres overall, 62.3 metres between perpendiculars, with an 11-metre beam and a depth of 6 metres to the main deck. Full-load displacement is around 900 tonnes, with a maximum draught of about 3 metres. At half load, the corvette can reach 30 knots, cruising at 12 knots with a range of 2,500 nautical miles at that speed. With 100 tonnes of fuel capacity, it can stay at sea for 15 days and carries a crew of 50. Propulsion comes from four MTU diesel engines split across two engine rooms, driving four Kongsberg waterjets.
Drone-carrying helicopters and a dense weapons fit
Each corvette will carry two HT-100 NAVAL vertical take-off and landing unmanned helicopters, built by EDGE’s Swiss-based entity ANAVIA and integrated with the ship’s combat management system. All six of the programme’s helicopters completed factory acceptance trials at ANAVIA’s Bilten facility in August 2026. The ship can also handle Class II unmanned aerial vehicle operations, carry a conventional 5-tonne helicopter, and launch two 7.5-metre RHIBs via davit.
Its weapons fit includes eight MBDA MM40 Exocet Block 3C anti-ship missiles, a Leonardo OTO 76/62 Super Rapido main gun, an eight-cell VL MICA vertical-launch missile system, two SIMBAD-RC launchers each carrying four MISTRAL 3 missiles, two Leonardo LIONFISH 20mm remote weapon stations, and two Lacroix SYLENA lightweight decoy launchers. The sensor suite pairs a Leonardo KRONOS Naval HP C-band multifunction radar with an NA-25X fire-control radar, a Medusa MK4 electro-optical/infrared system, and an ELT/332 electronic support and communications-intelligence sensor supplied by ELT Group. The combat management system is the ATHENA C Mk2.
A growing industrial template for African navies
Angola’s BR71 MK II programme stands out as an example of a mid-sized African navy being equipped through technology transfer rather than a straight purchase — in this case, to a Gulf-based shipbuilder rather than the country’s own yards. EDGE’s ability both to manufacture a French-designed class domestically and to extend that capability to a third country’s naval programme underlines the group’s ambition to act as a regional defense-industrial hub.
EDGE itself was formed in 2019 when the UAE government consolidated a large number of its defense companies under one group spanning aerospace, naval platforms, unmanned systems and cybersecurity. Its naval shipbuilding arm, ADSB, had already built Baynunah-class corvettes for the UAE Navy before applying that experience to programmes for other countries, including Angola. The Nimi-ya-Lukeni launch also illustrates a broader trend: as mid-sized navies modernise, working with Gulf-based defense industrial groups — particularly when a technology-transfer clause is part of the deal — is becoming an increasingly common choice. EDGE’s statement did not say which yard will build the programme’s third and final corvette, or when it will launch, nor whether Angola plans further steps to expand its navy beyond this three-ship order.
Sources: Naval News, “EDGE Launches Second Corvette for Angolan Navy, First of Its Class Built in UAE” (November 4, 2026); EDGE press statement. Image: Envanter Medya.
