European patrol corvette plan approved to move to next phase

10th June 2024 - 14:50 GMT | by The Shephard News Team in London

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The European Patrol Corvette (EPC) has become a flagship procurement project for the European Union. (Image: Naviris)

The Modular and Multirole Patrol Corvette (MMPC) has been planned to meet requirements for France, Italy and Spain, as well as potentially for Denmark, Greece, Norway, Ireland, Romania and Portugal.

The industrial proposal for a European Multi-Mission Patrol Corvette (EPC/MMPC) submitted by consortium of European three shipyards has been approved by the European Commission (EC) to move to the next phase.

The intention will be to provide a ship of about 100m-long and 3,000 tonnes from the 2027 timeframe with Italy, France and Spain the key likely customers, along with Greece.

The Grant Agreement by the EC, worth €154.5 million (US$166 million), will now be discussed with OCCAR-EA and next phase aims lain out for completing the initial and detailed design, ahead of developing and integrating technological bricks. The project will enable the vessels to host several systems and payloads and perform a large number of tasks and missions.

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The process will allow the production of the two first prototypes: one Long Range Mission (LRM) version and one Full Combat Mission (FCM) version that will make up a base for the future national fleets of advanced corvettes.

The final goal will be to expand the level of commonality, interoperability and standardisation between the different Member States’ Navies. As identified by the EC, this next step will be managed by OCCAR-EA on behalf of the EC.

The process will attempt to contribute towards five key elements for European autonomy: economy, defence, technology, industry and security.

It has been designed to consolidate the competences and joint development of advanced technologies among European industry to create independence of supply. It will attempt to establish a new transnational EU supply chain, reducing unit costs and presenting the European ship as a convincing choice over non-European shipyards.

Companies involved include Italy’s Fincantieri and France’s Naval Group as Naviris and Spain's Navantia together with Greece’s Hydrus.

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