Spain’s Navantia joins industry team for European Patrol Corvette

COLOGNE, Germany — Spanish shipbuilder Navantia has sealed its participation in the upcoming development of the European Control Corvette, a signature naval program that is part of the European Union’s defense efforts.

Company executives signed a memorandum of understanding to that effect with the Naviris consortium, the companies announced Feb. 11. Naviris is a 50-50 joint venture between France’s Naval Group and Italy’s Fincantieri.

The notional European Patrol Corvette is meant to be a coast guard-type ship able to perform missions of fighting pirates and smugglers as well as border control and show-of-force trips in Europe’s waters. At 100 meters and 3,000 tons, it will replace “several classes of ships, from patrol vessels to light frigates” in participating countries come 2027, the companies said.

The program has been advancing through the EU’s so-called Permanent Structured Cooperation framework, or PESCO, whose goal is to create joint capabilities across the continent. Companies participating in PESCO projects have a shot at subsidies flowing from the multibillion-dollar European Defence Fund.

Italy has the lead on the patrol corvette project. The governments of France, Spain and Greece have already signed up, and Portugal is reportedly considering doing the same.

All participating navies are expected to submit their design requirements this year, according to the Naviris announcement. The idea is to find “commonality of solutions and modularity for adaptions to national requirements,” the company said.

“The ambition of the project … is to include other European partners to integrate technological bricks, which correspond to innovation streams matching with national EPC requirements and European Commission strategy and guidelines.”

The European Defence Agency announced earlier this year that it would lend project management and related support to the program.

Sebastian Sprenger is associate editor for Europe at Defense News, reporting on the state of the defense market in the region, and on U.S.-Europe cooperation and multi-national investments in defense and global security. Previously he served as managing editor for Defense News. He is based in Cologne, Germany.

德国科隆——西班牙造船商纳凡蒂亚公司已确定参与即将启动的欧洲控制护卫舰的研发项目，该项目是欧盟国防努力的一部分，也是一项标志性的海军计划。

公司高管与 Naviris 财团签署了一份谅解备忘录，两家公司于 2 月 11 日宣布了这一消息。Naviris 是法国海军集团和意大利芬坎蒂尼集团各占 50% 股份的合资企业。

设想中的欧洲巡逻护卫舰是一种海岸警卫队类型的舰艇，能够执行打击海盗和走私者、边境管制以及在欧洲水域进行武力展示等任务。相关公司表示，该舰长100米，排水量3000吨，到2027年将取代参与国“从巡逻舰到轻型护卫舰等多个级别的舰艇”。

该项目一直通过欧盟所谓的“永久结构性合作”（PESCO）框架推进，该框架的目标是在整个欧洲大陆建立联合能力。参与PESCO项目的公司有机会获得来自数十亿美元欧洲防务基金的补贴。

意大利在巡逻护卫舰项目上处于领先地位。法国、西班牙和希腊政府已经签署了协议，据报道葡萄牙也在考虑加入。

根据Naviris公司的公告，所有参与的海军都需在今年提交各自的设计需求。该公司表示，此举旨在“寻求解决方案的通用性和模块化设计，以便根据各国的具体需求进行调整”。

“该项目的目标是……纳入其他欧洲合作伙伴，整合技术模块，这些模块与符合国家EPC要求和欧盟委员会战略及指导方针的创新流相对应。”

欧洲防务局今年早些时候宣布，将为该项目提供项目管理及相关支持。

塞巴斯蒂安·斯普伦格是《防务新闻》欧洲版副主编，负责报道该地区的防务市场状况，以及美欧在防务和全球安全领域的合作和多国投资。此前，他曾担任《防务新闻》执行主编。他现居德国科隆。