Fincantieri, Navantia and Naval Group signed the consortium agreement for the second phase of the European Patrol Corvette (EPC) programme at Euronaval 2026. Representatives of OCCAR, the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation, attended the ceremony.
The agreement moves the programme from its initial design phase towards preparing future Modular and Multirole Patrol Corvettes for production. The signing brought together the heads of the three shipbuilders.
Launched in 2019 under the European Union’s Permanent Structured Cooperation framework, the MMPC programme has been coordinated by OCCAR since 2022. It aims to develop a new generation of naval platforms for the changing operational needs of European navies.
EPC2 will complete the vessel’s preliminary and detailed design and advance the programme towards industrialisation. The first phase, EPC1, covered conceptual studies, preliminary ship design, key technology development and work on common methodologies, standards and requirements.
The programme is supported by the European Defence Fund. Its shared modular platform is intended to let participating navies adapt the corvette to their operational needs while maintaining interoperability and standardisation.
The vessels are designed for missions including maritime surveillance, offshore patrol, escort duties, maritime security and protection of critical sea lines of communication. The programme was presented at a dedicated booth at Euronaval 2026.
