European countries are actively moving towards the creation of a common ship. Yesterday, February 11, portal defensenews.com He announced that Navantia and Naviris have signed a memorandum of understanding.
Naviris is a joint venture of the Italian Fincantieri and the French Naval Group, created to develop a new patrol corvette for Europe (European Patrol Corvette, EPC).
Render of a promising EPC corvette
Image source: navyrecognition.com
Spain announced its intention to join the EPC last year. Yesterday, the Spanish company Navantia officially joined the project, which is being implemented under the auspices of the European Permanent Structured Cooperation on Defense and Security (PESCO).
The European patrol corvette is designed as a coast guard ship capable of carrying out tasks to combat pirates and smugglers, as well as for border control and a show of force in European waters. According to the companies, by 2027, the EPC will begin to replace "several classes of ships, from patrol to light frigates" in the participating countries. In addition to France, Italy and Spain, the EPC program includes Greece, and Portugal also expressed interest in a promising ship.
By the end of this year, the participating countries of the project intend to finalize the project of the ship, as well as to attract new countries to the EPC. From the details announced at the moment, it is known that it is planned to create a modular high-tech corvette with a displacement of about 3000 tons and a hull length of about 100 m.
