On the occasion of the "Euronaval" show (4-7 November) in Paris and following the selection by the European Commission, in May 2024, of the proposal submitted on 22 November 2023 by the Consortium of Industries, which brings together the three European shipyards, Navantia (ES), Fincantieri (IT) and Naval Group (FR), together with Naviris (FR/IT), the CEOs of the four companies met today to sign the "Initial Consortium Agreement". This agreement is intended to regulate the execution of the second phase (Call 2) of the Modular and Multirole Patrol Corvette (MMPC) project. The consortium is expected to be joined by the Greek engineering company Hydrus. The Grant Agreement relating to Call 2 will be discussed with Occar-EA, on a mandate from the European Commission (EC).

Building on the results achieved with the initial project Mmpc Call 1 (2021) and in the framework of Pesco, the industry commitment is intensifying in the second phase Mmpac Call 2 and has supported the selection of the proposal by the European Commission (EC) for the maximum budget of the European Defence Fund (EDF) of 154.5 million Euro. As identified by the EC, this next phase will be managed by Occar-EA, under a mandate from the EC.

In this new phase, the co-financing commitment of Italy, Spain, France and Greece will reflect a shared investment in the common security and defence objectives set by PESCO and the European Commission.

The second phase of the MMPC project aims to complete the Corvette design and integrate innovative technological elements that will allow the ships to be equipped with various systems and payloads to perform a wide range of tasks and missions. Furthermore, the second phase of the project includes the start of production of the first two Corvette prototypes: a Long Range Multipurpose (LRM) version and a Full Combat Multipurpose (FCM) version, which will form the basis for future national fleets of advanced corvettes with the final objective of increasing the level of common capabilities, interoperability and standardisation between the navies of the different Member States and contributing to five key elements for European autonomy: economy, defence, technology, industry and security.