HGH to supply SPYNEL surveillance system for Kuwait's Al Dorra OPVs

The first Al Dorra (Falaj 3) class corvette for the Kuwait Naval Force, Al Noukhita (P 6202), seen on a ship lift at what Edge Group called its “launch” on 3 February 2026. (Edge Group)

French electro-optical/infrared (IR) technology house HGH is to supply a variant of its SPYNEL 360° infrared (IR) surveillance system for the Kuwait Naval Forces' 62 m Al Dorra offshore patrol vessel (OPV) programme.

HGH announced its contract with Abu Dhabi Ship Building PJSC (ADSB), the shipbuilding arm of the UAE's Edge Group, on 23 June 2026. EDGE Group was awarded an AED 9 billion (USD2.45 billion) contract for the eight-ship Al Dorra programme in June 2025. ADSB is principal subcontractor for ship construction, while Leonardo is taking responsibility for the core combat system and combat systems integration under a EUR320 million (USD364 million) contract awarded in May.

Each Al Dorra vessel will receive two SPYNEL 8000 X-8000 systems for passive wide area panoramic surveillance. Scanning at 30 rpm across a 5° vertical field of view, SPYNEL X-8000 features a mid-wave megapixel focal plane array detector to capture high resolution video which is then processed in the proprietary CYCLOPE detection, classification and tracking software package.

According to HGH, both SPYNEL X-8000 and the associated CYCLOPE software will be fully integrated into Leonardo's combat management system. Deliveries to ADSB are scheduled to start in early 2028.

The selection of SPYNEL X-8000 for the Al Dorra programme builds on the relationship previously established between HGH and ADSB for the supply of SPYNEL systems for the UAE Naval Forces' Falaj 3 OPV programme. The Falaj 3 design – based on the Fearless-class platform developed by Singapore-based ST Engineering – provides the basis for Kuwait's Al Dorra OPV.

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