CAIRO, Sept 7, 2018 (MENA) – Egypt's Navy on Friday celebrated the launch of the first Egyptian-made Gowind-class corvette which will be commissioned soon. The warship was built by the armed forces' Alexandria Shipyard company in cooperation with France's state-owned shipbuilder Naval Group. The multi-mission frigate is designed for surveillance, surface and subsurface combat, protection and escort naval missions. It can also perform monitoring and policing missions. This comes as part of the Egyptian Armed Forces' efforts to support the army's combat and technical capabilities. Delivering a speech at the beginning of the ceremony, Commander of the Egyptian Naval Forces Vice Admiral Ahmed Khaled asserted that the General Command of the Armed Forces is keen to implement a comprehensive strategy for developing and modernizing the Egyptian naval fleet, with the aim of enhancing security and stability in Egypt's maritime zones and strengthening its ability to face current challenges and threats in the region. The new frigate, the most advanced unit in the Egyptian Navy, is expected to contribute to achieving maritime security, protecting borders and economic interests along the Red and Mediterranean seas, in addition to securing the navigation traffic in the Suez Canal, he said. For his part, Board Chairman of the French Naval Group greeted the efforts exerted by Alexandria Shipyard company's workers to build the frigate in record time and their insistence to get acquainted with the latest technologies in this regard.
