Italy’s Leonardo has signed a €320 million ($371 million) contract with Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) – the naval arm of the UAE’s EDGE Group – to supply next-generation combat systems for Kuwait’s Al Dorra-class missile boat program. The deal covers the Falaj 3 configuration vessels that ADSB is constructing for the Kuwait Naval Force under a head contract worth AED 9 billion ($2.45 billion) signed with Kuwait’s Ministry of Defence in June 2025 – the largest naval shipbuilding export in Middle Eastern history.
Leonardo’s scope encompasses the full combat suite – combat management systems, long-range surveillance, and missile defence – for all eight vessels. The Italian firm already supplies the same systems for the Baynunah-class corvettes in UAE Navy service, a relationship that stretches back over two decades.
ADSB’s chief executive, David Massey, told The National that Leonardo originally provided the 76mm main gun, radar, and computerized combat management system for the Baynunah class, and those same systems now form the basis for the Al Dorra configuration. The relationship between the two companies has produced more than 25 delivered naval vessels across two decades of collaboration.
The program structure places EDGE/ADSB in the prime contractor role, with European and Singaporean sub-system providers beneath it. Singapore’s ST Engineering secured a S$600 million sub-contract to design and supply platform systems for the eight missile boats – and will build three of the vessels at its own Singapore shipyard.
ST Engineering’s contract followed an earlier award in 2021 by ADSB for four similar offshore patrol vessels for the UAE Navy, meaning the Falaj 3 production line now spans two navies and two shipyards. The design itself traces to the Fearless-class patrol vessels that ST Engineering originally designed for the Republic of Singapore Navy in the 1990s.
The first Al Dorra-class hull – AL NOUKHITHA (P 6202) – was launched at ADSB’s Abu Dhabi shipyard on 3 February 2026. Janes reported the vessel as a 62.7-metre, 641-tonne corvette with a top speed of 25 knots and a range of 2,000 nautical miles at 16 knots. ADSB is expected to deliver all eight vessels within five to six years.
Both Leonardo and EDGE have framed the contract as a step toward a broader industrial relationship. The two firms signed an agreement at Dubai Airshow 2025 in November to launch a joint venture in Abu Dhabi in 2026, with EDGE holding 51 per cent and Leonardo 49 per cent. That JV would cover design, development, testing, industrialization, production, and through-life support across sensors, system integration, and platforms – and the Al Dorra combat systems contract adds a substantial backlog to a venture that has yet to formally launch.
The deal comes as Gulf states accelerate naval procurement amid the ongoing Strait of Hormuz tensions and the broader disruption of Operation Epic Fury. For Kuwait – which shares a maritime border with Iran across the northern Persian Gulf – the Al Dorra program represents its most significant naval recapitalization in decades, built around a UAE-designed platform armed with European combat systems and Singaporean platform engineering.
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