Naviris and Navantia to conduct EPC studies

Naviris (the 50:50 JV between Fincantieri and Naval Group) and Navantia have signed an MoU in connection with the European Patrol Corvette (EPC) programme.

Both parties announced that they will ‘act in a fully coordinated way’ with Fincantieri and Naval Group by conducting a series of design studies for EPC, which is envisaged to be 100m long with 3,000t displacement.

‘The studies could potentially benefit from European Union and national funds and will include a large part of R&D leading to innovative solutions for making easier the co-development and interoperability, the efficiency of the vessels in operations and digital data management,’ Naviris and Navantia noted in a joint statement on 11 February.

To date, France, Italy (as project coordinator), Spain and Greece have signed up for the EPC, which is designated as a key programme within the EU Permanent Structured Cooperation framework and has the backing of the European Defence Agency.

The EPC is intended to replace to replace several classes of ships, from patrol vessels to light frigates, from 2027.

‘The design requirements for these vessels, with a clear objective of commonality of solutions and modularity for adaptation to national requirements, are expected from the [participating] navies in 2021,’ Naviris and Navantia added.

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