The Khareef class are 3 Corvettes currently under construction for the Royal Navy of Oman

Royal Navy of Oman

The Royal Navy of Oman was formed in the early 1950s-Ships:* Qahir class corvettes built by Vosper Thornycroft ** Q31 Qahir Al Amwaj** Q32 Al Mua'zzar...

. The first vessel named the Al Shamikh was launched in July 2009 and the second, Al-Rahmani, was named on 23 July 2010. The third, Al-Rasikh, is still under construction.

The ships are being built by BAE Systems Surface Ships at their Shipyard in Portsmouth Naval Base, as part of a £400m deal which will also include training by VT Group

VT Group

VT Group plc was a British defence and services company, formerly known as Vosper Thornycroft. The Company had diversified from shipbuilding into various engineering and support services, becoming involved in many areas of provision through five main operating groups: VT Communications, VT...

.

Role

The three vessels will be capable for:-

• Protection of maritime areas of interest including EEZ
• Extended surveillance patrols
• Deterrent operations during times of tension
• Fully interoperable with joint and coalition operations
• Special operations
• Search and rescue
• Maritime disaster relief operations

Armament

• They will feature a 12-cell VL Mica
  MBDA MICA
  The MBDA MICA is an anti-air multi-target, all weather, fire-and-forget short and medium-range missile system. It is intended for use both by air platforms as individual missiles as well as ground units and ships, which can be equipped with the rapid fire MICA Vertical Launch System...
  
   launcher, MM40 Exocet
  Exocet
  The Exocet is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. Hundreds were fired in combat during the 1980s.-Etymology:...
  
   Block 3 SSMs, an Oto Melara 76/62 Super Rapid
  Otobreda 76 mm
  The Otobreda 76 mm gun is a naval artillery piece built by the Italian defence conglomerate Otobreda. It is based on the Oto Melara 76mm/L62 Allargato, which was bigger and heavier...
  
   gun, 2 MSI DS 30M 30 mm guns and MASS
  MASS (decoy system)
  MASS is a naval self-defence system, produced by Rheinmetall of Germany. It is connected to the ship's sensors and protects ships from attacks by advanced, sensor-guided missiles, by launching decoys, that operate in all relevant wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum .As of March 31/09,...
  
  decoy system.

Ships of Class

Ship	Date Launched	Date Commissioned
Al-Shamikh	22 July 2009		(On Sea Trials)
Al-Rahmani	23 July 2010		(Undergoing Outfit)
Al-Rasikh	27 June 2011		N/A

External links

• BVT News Release regarding Al Shamikh launch