Fincantieri: The offer for the Modular and Multirole Patrol Corvette has been presented

(To Fincantieri)
13/12/21

Fincantieri, Naval Group, with their joint venture Naviris, and Navantia, strengthen their collaboration for the Modular Multirole Patrol Corvette (MMPC) program and reaffirm their willingness to work together in order to develop the first common naval defensive capability in Europe. In this context, the consortium led by Fincantieri, Naval Group and Navantia and coordinated by Naviris, presented on 9 December a proposal relating to the MMPC call for the European Defense Fund (EDF).

The common assessment of societies is that the European Union is increasingly faced with many types of threats (increased tensions between great powers, problems of illegal immigration, terrorism, etc.). In recent years, and especially during 2021, demands have increased on European countries to take responsibility for their own security both within NATO and as part of the common European security and defense policy. Several Member States have repeatedly stressed the need to develop common military capabilities to address common challenges.

In this regard, Fincantieri, Naval Group and Navantia recognize the need for collaboration in the naval defense sector to support the European Union in facing these and future challenges.

As major European industrial players in the naval defense sector, the companies believe that this is the right time to initiate real, concrete and value-added collaboration around a joint program that will be the first joint naval defense capability in Europe. This strategic program already exists: it is the European Patrol Corvette (EPC), the most important naval initiative within the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO).

On 9 December the consortium led by Fincantieri, Naval Group and Navantia and coordinated by Naviris therefore submitted an offer to the European Defense Fund (EDF) for the MMPC call.

The objective of the proposal is to maximize synergies and collaboration between European shipbuilding industries. By jointly developing a new unit, the EPC, the aim of these companies is to ensure European sovereignty in the second-line ship sector.

This proposal will allow to boost the PESCO project, and foresees the participation of:

  • 4 countries (Italy, France, Spain and Greece) in the EPC's PESCO project;
  • 6 nations involved in co-financing (Italy, France, Spain, Greece, Denmark and Norway);
  • 3 European shipbuilding industries (Fincantieri, Naval Group and Navantia) coordinated by Naviris;
  • 40 companies for naval systems and components.

Based on a unified framework of standards and advanced collaborative engineering methodologies, the EPC aims to be developed in a very short timeframe, starting from the configuration definition studies up to the initial design. The product design will be a turning point compared to the current units, as it is modular and flexible, as well as more energy efficient, more ecological, more secure, more interoperable and attentive to cyber-security. Finally, the MMPC will be characterized to respond to specific national requirements, while maintaining a common core design of reference.

This proposal constitutes the first fundamental step to prepare the future production of a prototype unit in the event of the issuance of a second EDF call in the context of multiannual planning. In this framework, the promotion of the program to other European navies, with a joint action of the nations already part of the PESCO program, will strengthen European industry, increasing cooperation, efficiency and reducing the duplication of defense spending.