European Defence Agency to support multi-national corvette development programme

The European Defence Agency’s (EDA) steering board recently approved the launch of a specific EDA ad hoc project that will contribute to the implementation of a permanent structured cooperation (PESCO) project aimed at developing a new class of patrol corvette.

Italy, which leads a group of four PESCO participating countries involved in the European Patrol Corvette (EPC) programme, had requested the EDA’s support for moving the project forward.

The ships in the class will be of modular construction to enable the accommodation of various mission-specific payloads and systems. Each corvette will have a length of not more than 110 metres, a displacement of less than 3,000 tonnes, a draught of less than 5.5 metres, and space for diesel and/or electric engines.

The EPC is envisaged as a common platform that can be customised as needed by participating member states according to their national needs and specifications.

The other partner nations in the EPC programme are France, Greece, and Spain.