The Diplomat
A consortium led by the companies Fincantieri (Italy), Naval Group (France) and Navantia (Spain) and coordinated by Naviris (a joint venture created by the first two) has submitted an industrial proposal to take over the European Modular and Multirole Patrol Corvette, MMPC, program.
As Navantia informed yesterday in a press release, the proposal was presented last December 9th and is framed in the will of the three companies to work together “to develop the first common naval capacity in Europe”.
“Throughout the last few years, and more specifically during 2021, there have been multiple calls for Europeans to take responsibility for their own security, both within NATO and in the framework of the common European security and defense policy” and, as a result, “several EU Member States have repeatedly stressed the need to develop common military capabilities to meet common challenges,” the note continues.
In this regard, “Fincantieri, Naval Group and Navantia recognize that collaboration in the EU naval defense sector is necessary to support Europe in meeting these challenges and those to come.” “As major European industrial players in the naval defense sector, it is believed that the time is right to initiate a real, concrete and value-added collaboration around a common program that will be the first common naval capability in Europe,” the statement continued. “This strategic program already exists: the European Patrol Corvette (EPC) program, the most important naval initiative within the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO),” it added.
On December 9, the consortium led by the three naval industrial partners and coordinated by Naviris submitted an industrial proposal related to the European Defense Fund (EDF) MMPC call to develop this joint project. “The clear objective of the proposal is to maximize synergies and collaboration within the European shipbuilding industry. With the joint development of this new ship, the EPC, the aim is to ensure European sovereignty in defense vessels of its rank,” it adds.
This has been possible thanks to the participation of four countries in the EPC PESCO project (Italy, France, Spain and Greece), six countries participating in the co-financing (Italy, France, Spain, Greece, Denmark and Norway), three European shipbuilding industries (Fincantieri, Naval Group and Navantia) with Naviris in charge of coordination and 40 companies developing systems and supplying naval equipment.
Through a unified framework of standards and using collaborative advanced engineering methodologies, the EPC will be developed from conceptual studies to initial design. The design produced will constitute an advance over current military vessels, as it will be modular, flexible, as well as more energy efficient, greener, safer, more interoperable and cyber-secure. Finally, the MMPC will be adapted to specific national requirements, while maintaining the defined design as a common reference.
“This proposal constitutes a first essential step to prepare the future production of the vessel in the scope of a second EDF call in the multiannual perspective. In this context, the promotion of the program to other European navies, with a joint action of the nations already part of the PESCO program, will strengthen the European industry, increasing cooperation, efficiency and decreasing duplicity in defense spending,” the note concludes.
