On Thursday, March 5, 2026, the French shipbuilding company CMN Naval (Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie) announced on LinkedIn that the previous day a christening and launching ceremony had taken place at its Cherbourg-en-Cotentin shipyard for the prototype missile corvette Ekuikui II (F 300) of the BR71 Mk II class, intended for Angola.
Photos: CMN Naval via LinkedIn
The ceremony was attended by the management of CMN Naval, led by its CEO Serge Quaranta, as well as representatives of Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB), a shipbuilding company belonging to the UAE-based EDGE Group, which commissioned the vessel, and representatives of the customer – the Angolan Navy (Marinha de Guerra Angolana, MGA).
It should be recalled that on February 20, 2023, during the NAVDEX 2023 naval defense exhibition held alongside the International Defence Exhibition and Conference IDEX 2023 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, ADSB announced the signing of a contract worth 1 billion EUR for the construction, among other vessels, of three BR71 Mk II missile corvettes for Angola. The contract also covered an unspecified number of smaller vessels and Al Sabr S-100 unmanned systems (licensed Schiebel Camcopter S-100), which are to be delivered by ADASI, another company within the EDGE Group.
It is worth noting that while the prototype was built in France, the two subsequent corvettes are already being constructed in the United Arab Emirates.
The first steel cutting for Ekuikui II (F 300) took place in December 2023, while the keel was laid in March 2024. Delivery of the vessel is scheduled for October 2026 (originally planned for 2025). As for the ships being built in the UAE, deliveries are planned for April and October 2027.
Based on the BR71 Mk II design, six Baynunah-class missile corvettes were previously built. These vessels are 70.3 m long, 11 m wide, have a draft of 2.8 m, and a displacement of 930 tons, constructed under license from the French company Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie. The ships were previously offered to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and the company is currently focusing its marketing efforts on Indonesia and the Philippines.
The BR71 Mk II is powered by four diesel engines driving four KaMeWa waterjets, providing a maximum speed of up to 30 knots and a range of up to 2,500 nautical miles at an economical speed of 12 knots. Endurance is 15 days.
The ships’ main armament will consist of a launcher for eight French MBDA Exocet MM40 Block 3 anti-ship missiles, while the primary sensor will be the Leonardo Kronos Naval 3D multifunction radar. Air defense will be provided by an eight-cell launcher for MBDA VL MICA missiles and a twin MBDA SPIMM (Self-Protection Integrated Mistral Module) launcher armed with Mistral missiles. The artillery armament will include a 76 mm/L62 Leonardo OTO Melara naval gun along with two remotely operated weapon systems. The ship will also carry two RHIB boats.
The Angolan Navy currently operates six Project 205ER Moskit/Osa II missile boats (since 1982) and six Project 206 Shtorm/Shershen torpedo boats (since 1976). These are complemented by smaller patrol vessels: six Argos-class, five Aresa PVC-170, two Pulicat-class, five Bellatrix-class, four Mandume-class, three Patrulheiro-class, and two Namacurra-class. In addition, it operates two Project 1258 Korund/Yevgenya minehunters, four Project 770 landing ships (built in Poland), one Alfange-class, one Landing Craft Tank, and ten LDM-400 landing craft. Most of these vessels were built in the Soviet Union, Portugal, Poland, or the United States, but they are now largely outdated.
Interestingly, in December 2013 the Angolan authorities had a plan to acquire several used vessels from Spain: the light aircraft carrier Príncipe de Asturias (R 11), the landing ship Pizarro (L 42) of the Newport class, the corvette Diana (F 32) of the Descubierta class (converted into a mine countermeasures command ship), as well as the patrol vessels Chilreu (P 61) of the Chilreu class and Ízaro (P 27) of the Anaga class. However, the plan proved too ambitious and was eventually abandoned.