The MMPC (Multi Modular Patrol Corvette) Programme started as the EPC (European Patrol Corvette), a project of future innovative naval vessels which is developed in a collaborative way by Navies and members of the European Union under the banner of PeSCo (Permanent Structured Cooperation) projects. The initiative, born following the signature on June 2019 of a Letter of Intent between Italy and French Navy, has attracted the interest of others Nations that have progressively revealed their intention to join as Participating Member States (Greece, Spain and Romania).
The European Commission opened in 2021 a call named MMPC CALL 1 for which the IT-FR Naviris Company coordinated the elaboration of a proposal by pooling together the expertise of a European Consortium. This proposal has been selected in July 2022 with a grant of EDF (European Defence Fund) and National co-funding of the Participating States for a two-year initial phase of design, development of technological bricks and definition of common working methodologies, rules and standards.
In July 2021 the proposal was awarded by the European Commission (EC) and in December 2021 the European Commission and Occar signed an Agreement called “Contribution Agreement” to entrust Occar for the preparation phase, the signature and the management of the Grant Agreement (contract between OCCAR and an Industrial European Consortium coordinated by Naviris).
After the signature of the PMA (Programme Management Authorization) in October 2022, Occar started the MMPC Programme integration process in order to manage the full scope of the project, acting as Granting Authority, on mandate of the EC, and Contracting Authority, on mandate of the five Nations (Italy, France, Spain Greece and Norway).
The overall value of the MMPC CALL 1 (first phase) is 87 M€ and the contractual framework is structured into two different documents: a Grant Agreement (GA), funded for 60 M€ by the EC in the form of “grants”, and a Linked Procurement Contract (LPC), funded for 27M€ by Nations.
The contractual documents (GA and LPC) were signed on the 24th October 2023 between Occar and a Consortium, coordinated by Naviris gathering together three of the most important European shipyards, Fincantieri, Naval Group, Navantia and other beneficiaries/subcontractors for a total of 39 companies from 12 different countries (Italy, France, Spain, Greece, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Portugal, Sweden, Belgium, Holland and Estonia).
This first phase of the programme, with a duration of 24 months, aims to provide concept/feasibility studies and initial design for a next generation class of naval vessel to be realised in different variants by adding platform weapon systems in a modular concept. The design aims to be flexible, more energy-efficient, greener, safer, more interoperable and cyber-secured. MMPC is envisaged as a platform which may be used by different European countries based on a shared baseline which can be tailored to National needs.
Furthermore, the European Commission opened in 2023 the second phase of the project, namely MMPC CALL 2, to pursue the work already addressed in the CALL 1 aiming, this time, to complete the Critical Design Review (CDR), and start the development phase with the production of, at least, the platforms of several variants as prototypes and, at least, one per version (Full Combat Multipurpose and Long Range Multipurpose). The Consortium submitted a new proposal in November 2023, to be evaluated by the European Commission and confirmed by the Nations in the Co-financing, for a possible new cooperative contract to be finalized by OCCAR within 2025.
MMPC Participating States
