On August 4, 2023, the Bulgarian shipbuilding and ship repair plant "MTG Dolphin" in Varna launched the head multifunctional patrol ship (corvette) "Hrabri" (tail number "12"), under construction for the Bulgarian Navy, from two ordered units of the MMPV 90 project of the German company NVL Group (part of the German Lürssen group).
Launched at the Bulgarian shipbuilding and ship repair plant "MTG-Delphin" (MTG Dolphin), the head multifunctional patrol ship (corvette) "Hrabri" (tail number "12") of the MMPV 90 project of the German company NVL Group, under construction for the Bulgarian Navy. Varna, 04.08.2023 (c) "MTG-Delphin"
Recall that on November 12, 2020, the Bulgarian government signed a contract with the German shipbuilding group Fr. Lürssen Werft GmbH & Co. KG for the construction of two multifunctional patrol ships ("Multifunctional modular patrol ship" - MMPC) of the MMPV 90 project worth BGN 984 million with VAT (EUR 503 million at the then rate - as soon as possible understand, without taking into account the cost of missile weapons). The construction is carried out according to the project and with the participation of Lürssen as the general contractor at the Bulgarian shipbuilding and ship repair plant "MTG-Delphin" in Varna. From November 1, 2021, the role of the general contractor from the German side was transferred to the newly formed NVL Group (Naval Vessels Lürssen), to which the Lürssen Group allocated its assets in the field of military shipbuilding. A subsidiary of NVL Group called Naval Technology Bulgaria has been established in Varna for the technical design of the ship and construction support.
The MMPV 90 project presented by Lürssen was selected by the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense based on the results of a tender held since 2016, in the final stage of which the Italian shipbuilding association Fincantieri and the MTG-Delphin plant itself participated with their own project of a "modular" K-90 corvette (presumably developed with the participation of the Nikolaev Research and Design Center for Shipbuilding - CPI). At the same time, the MTG-Delphin plant was determined in advance by the contractor of the construction with any choice. Earlier, the MTG-Delphin plant became famous for the construction of warships for Equatorial Guinea on it according to Ukrainian projects (all of the same CPI).
The Bulgarian program for the construction of two promising surface ships was severely limited by a financial limit of BGN 1 billion (a little more than 500 million euros), which led to the dropout at an early stage of the tender of the much more expensive corvette of the French project Gowind Combat (Gowind 2500), which was previously a favorite of the Bulgarian Navy, and as a result to the choice of a non-full-fledged ship a corvette class, and in fact a Coast Guard patrol ship of moderate size with enhanced armament. The project Lürssen MMPV 90 (Multipurpose Modular Patrol Vessel) chosen by the Bulgarian side is actually a variant of the project of the 90-meter patrol ship OPV 90 previously presented by Lürssen to the world market. In turn, OPV 90 is an enlarged version of the project of the 80-meter patrol ship PV 80, according to which Lürssen previously built four Darussalam-type patrol ships for the Brunei Navy (commissioned in 2011-2014), and now 12 Arafura-type patrol ships are being built in Australia.
Two ships of the MMPV90 project, being built under the specified contract for MTG-Delphin, should be commissioned, respectively, in the third quarter of 2025 and the third quarter of 2026, and should form the core of the updated Bulgarian fleet.
The ceremony of the first steel cutting for the head Bulgarian patrol ship "Hrabri" (construction number 13779) took place at the MTG-Delphin enterprise on December 3, 2021, and the official laying ceremony was held on June 17, 2022. Now the lead ship is launched. The ceremony of the first steel cutting for the second ship "Smeli" (construction number 13780, planned tail number "11") It took place on December 14, 2022, and the ceremony of its official laying was held on June 22, 2023.
The detailed specifications of the Bulgarian MMPV 90 project ship have not yet been published. NVL Group reported that the ship will have a standard displacement of 2,100 tons and a full displacement of 2,300 tons, a length of 90 meters and a width of 14 meters. The power plant will be a diesel two-shaft, full speed no more than 25 knots, cruising range of 3000 miles. The ship's equipment will include four launchers of the Saab RBS-15 Mk 3+ anti-ship missile system, an eight-container vertical launcher of the MBDA VL-MICA anti-aircraft missile system, a 76-mm Leonardo Super Rapid universal artillery system, a 35-mm Rheinmetall Oerlikon Millennium anti-aircraft artillery system, and possibly two 12.7-mm or 20-mm remote-controlled installations, as well as two 324-mm three-tube torpedo tubes for Leonardo A.244/S anti-submarine torpedoes. The ship will be equipped with a hangar for basing an Airbus Helicopters AS565MB Panther helicopter (the Bulgarian Navy has three helicopters of this type).
The ship's electronic armament will be mainly supplied by the Swedish Saab AB group, including the Sea Giraffe AMB general detection radar, the Ceros 200 fire control system and the Saab 9LV series ACS. It is planned to install a mobile and towed gas. The ships will be equipped with an electronic warfare system and a Rheinmetall TKWA/MASS firing jamming system.
The model of the head multifunctional patrol ship (corvette) "Hrabri" of the MMPV 90 project of the German company NVL Group (c) "MTG-Delphin" being built for the Bulgarian Navy
