Falaj 3 programme proceeds to contract award

Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) announced on 18 May that it has officially signed an AED3.5 billion ($952.8 million) contract with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) MoD to build four Falaj 3-class offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) for the UAE Navy.

This is the largest-ever order for ADSB from the UAE Navy, exceeding the value of the Baynunah-class corvette programme.

ADSB received a letter of award from the UAE MoD in Q4 2020 to build the four vessels.

Their delivery date remains undisclosed, however.

Khalid Al Breiki, ADSB chairman and president of the Mission Support cluster in EDGE (which owns 40% of the shipbuilder), said the order will provide ADSB ‘with a platform for sustainable profitable growth, while maintaining strategic national assets that are critical to the defence of the UAE’.

All four Falaj 3 OPVs will be built locally and ADSB will also be responsible for systems integration.

Shephard reported from NAVDEX 2021 in February that ADSB displayed a scale model of the 60m-long, 641t Falaj 3 patrol vessel. The design appears to be based on the Fearless-class patrol vessels built by Singapore Technologies in the 1990s, with reduced radar cross-section, IR and acoustic signatures.

Falaj 3 will be powered by four engines driving four propellers, allowing the OPVs to exceed 26kt.

The scale model at NAVDEX showed a 30mm cannon and various missile types.