On November 24, 2023, the Portuguese Navy signed a contract with the international (headquartered in the Netherlands) shipbuilding group Damen Shipyards Group for the technical and operational design and construction of an innovative multifunctional ship Plataforma Naval Multifunctional (PNM), which will be named A 888 Don João II. The signing ceremony was attended by Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa and Portuguese Defense Minister Elena Carreiras. The ship is due to join the Portuguese fleet in the second half of 2026.
Render image of the promising Portuguese multifunctional ship A 888 Don João II of the Plataforma Naval Multifunctional (PNM) project (c) Damen Shipyards Group
Earlier, the Portuguese Navy in June 2022 issued a tender request for the design and construction of the PNM ship, and this tender was eventually won by the Damen group. The total contract cost of the ship amounted to 132 million euros, of which only 37.5 million euros were allocated from the Portuguese budget, and the main share of 94.5 million euros is financed by the European Union Recovery and Sustainability Fund.
The Strataforma Navy Multifunctional ship should act as a carrier of unmanned aerial and surface and underwater unmanned vehicles, and in this regard, it has received a unique aircraft carrier architecture with a solid flight deck for UAVs and helicopters. The flight deck with a springboard should have a length of 94 and a width of 11 m, with the total maximum length of the ship 107.6 m. The total displacement of the ship will be more than 7000 tons.
With a general "aircraft carrier" appearance, the PNM ship is not an amphibious one, but, according to the requirements of the Portuguese Navy, should actually be a combination of a patrol ship and a hydrographic and oceanographic vessel, and is designed to perform a wide range of tasks, including protection of the maritime economic zone, surveillance, search and rescue operations (including underwater), oceanographic research, underwater research, disaster relief.
Officially, the main tasks of the ship are concentrated on research functions and include: monitoring of the biogeochemical state of the ocean and atmosphere; inventory and assessment of mineral resources and all other non-renewable resources on the seabed in the Portuguese maritime economic zone; continuous inventory of biological resources (renewable resources) and monitoring their condition; monitoring and combating violations and illegal economic actions in Portugal's maritime economic zone; response to natural disasters and man-made accidents; mitigation of harmful human activities in the ocean (combating the effects of pollution, such as macroplastics); increasing the total volume of hydrological and oceanographic information.
The ship must be equipped with a diesel-electric power plant with dual-fuel diesels and low-noise low-speed electric motors, the propellers are two screw-steering columns. The full speed will be 14 knots, the economy 10 knots. The ship must carry several speedboats, a remote-controlled underwater vehicle capable of operating at a depth of up to 6000 meters and drilling, several surface unmanned boats of various types, autonomous uninhabited underwater vehicles of several (at least four) types, various unmanned aerial vehicles of both aircraft and helicopter (quadcopter) types. The ship should be able to receive helicopters and have an extensive communications and control center, as well as be equipped with sonar facilities.
A feature of the preliminary appearance of the ship presented by the Portuguese Navy is its aircraft carrier architecture with a solid flight deck to ensure the flight of UAVs of all types, with a bow springboard to facilitate the take-off of large aircraft-type UAVs. It is quite obvious that this solution is planned for combat-purpose UAVs (the initial renderings on the deck depicted two UAVs similar to the General Atomics MQ-1C Grey Eagle). It is noted that for different types of UAVs, it is possible to use catapults, as well as means of braking and forced landing. There is no hangar for large aircraft equipment. The deck is also designed for helicopter flights (NH90 and AW101 classes). The superstructure of the ship is made insular on the starboard side, and it is equipped with a small hangar for UAVs.
For a significant part of the length of the ship, a closed hangar will be made to accommodate surface and underwater unmanned and uninhabited vehicles, as well as to accommodate additional containerized loads - up to 20 standard containers, it is also possible to place up to 18 cars in the hangar, loading of the hangar is possible through on-board latsports. In addition, the hangar can be equipped with quick-deployable cabins to accommodate 100 people. Separate hangars are provided for some of the underwater vehicles.
The ship will be equipped with a dock compartment measuring 20 by 10 meters for launching large underwater vehicles with a displacement of up to 30 tons, including a large NPA with a diving depth of 6000 m. Also, the equipment should include a 50-ton crane, a stern A-shaped boom and side lifts for launching underwater vehicles. It is planned to have a separate bridge to control unmanned and unmanned vehicles. There are no weapons on the ship, and, apparently, a significant part of the crew will be civilian. The full-time crew will be 48 people, and 42 more seats are reserved for operators and maintenance personnel of UAVs and surface and underwater vehicles. The autonomy will be 45 days.
Video from the contract signing ceremony (with a demonstration of projections and sections on the decks of the ship):