NEWTOWN, Conn. - The Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding company has launched the first of three new C28A corvettes for Algeria. The vessel was launched near Shanghai on August 16, according to Naval Recognition, and will be delivered in May next year.
In May 2012 it was announced that Algeria had signed a contract with China State Trading Corporation to supply three corvettes. The vessels will be built either at Guangzhou or at the Shanghai Huangpu Shipyard.
The C28A corvettes are around 120 meters long, 14.4 meters wide and have a draft of 3.87 meters. They displace about 2,880 tons fully loaded, and will be powered by MTU diesel engines. They will receive a combination of Western and Chinese systems, including a Chinese hull-mounted sonar, Thales Smart-S Mk II air and surface surveillance radar and Kelvin Hughes navigation radar. Armament will include a NORINCO single barrel 76 mm main gun, eight C802 anti-ship missiles, a single FM90N launcher with eight surface to air missiles and two Type 730 seven-barrel 30 mm close-in weapon systems (CIWS) located on top of the helicopter hangar.
The Algerian Navy has been undergoing expansion in recent years as it faces problems with smuggling, illegal migration, and indigenous terrorism. These threats mainly affect Algeria's harbors and maritime communication routes and ships passing through the Straits of Gibraltar. As a result, the Navy maintains a well-trained and well-equipped fleet to provide security to more than 1,000 kilometers of coastline.
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