An Initial Consortium Agreement that aims to govern the execution of the second phase (Call 2) of the European Defence Fund’s Modular and Multirole Patrol Corvette (MMPC) project was signed at the Euronaval 2024 exhibition in Paris on 4 November.
The agreement was signed by the CEOs of the four companies whose consortium proposal was selected by the European Commission in May 2024: Spanish shipyard Navantia, Italian shipyard Fincantieri, French shipyard Naval Group, together with Naviris: a 50/50 owned joint venture by Fincantieri and Naval Group launched in January 2020.
The consortium is expected to be joined by the Greek engineering company HYDRUS, while the Grant Agreement relevant to Call 2 of the MMPC project will be discussed with the executive administration of the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR-EA), as delegated by the European Commission.
“Building on the foundational MMPC Call 1 project (2021) and in the PESCO [Permanent Structured Cooperation] framework, the commitment by industry is intensified in MMPC Call 2 and supported by the selection of the proposal by the European Commission (EC) for the maximum EDF budget of EUR 154.5 million. As identified by the EC, this next step is to be managed by OCCAR-EA on behalf of the EC,” a press release by the consortium stated. “For this new step, the co-financing commitment of Italy, Spain, France and Greece will reflect a shared investment in the common security and defence objectives outlined by PESCO and the European Commission.”
The second phase of the MMPC project aims to complete the design of the corvettes and integrate “innovative technological bricks”, which will enable the vessels to host several systems and payloads and perform a broader range of tasks and missions.
Furthermore, the second phase of the project will encompass the start of the production of the first two corvette prototypes – one Long Range Multipurpose (LRM) version and one Full Combat Multipurpose (FCM) version – that will make up a base for the future national fleets of advanced corvettes, with the final goal of expanding the level of commonality, interoperability and standardisation between the different member states’ navies.
