UAE commissions first Gowind corvette

A still from media coverage of the commissioning of Bani Yas , the first of the UAE's two Gowind corvettes, on 29 November 2023. (WAM news agency)

The first of the two Gowind corvettes the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ordered from France's Naval Group was commissioned into service on 29 November, the UAE Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced.

Bani Yas (P110) was commissioned by Vice-President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan at the Mina Zayed naval base in Abu Dhabi just under two years after it was launched at Naval Group's yard in Lorient.

Naval Group announced earlier in November that the corvette left Lorient on 23 October having been handed over to the UAE Navy two days earlier. It added that the UAE's second Gowind, Al Emarat , would soon begin sea trials.

The video released by the MoD also showed that the UAE Navy has commissioned a third 71 m landing ship called Al Dannah , further augmenting its already impressive sealift capability. Satellite imagery shows the landing ship was launched at the Al-Fattan yard in Abu Dhabi in March 2022.