The lead ship of the two 2,300 ton MMPV 90 corvettes for the Bulgarian Navy, a design by the German shipbuilder NVL Group and constructed by the local shipbuilder MTG Dolphin Shipyard in Varna, commenced sea trials.
Roughly two years after MTG Dolphin Shipyard PLC launched the first of the Bulgarian Navy’s two new 90-meter, heavily armed Multi-Purpose Modular Patrol Vessels (MMPV 90), built under the management of the German shipbuilder NVL Group (formerly Lürssen Defence) and with the participation of numerous Bulgarian suppliers, the ship began its sea trials on November 11 in Varna Bay and the Black Sea. Following the successful completion of these trials, the vessel will be formally accepted into the Navy.
The new ships, actually light corvettes, are predestined for tasks within the framework of international alliance missions of NATO and the EU and enable the Bulgarian Navy, which is in need of modernization, to counter air- and land-based threats as well as surface and undersea threats. The MMPV project is currently the largest newbuilding project of the Bulgarian Navy. The two MMPV 90s will mark the renewal of the Bulgarian Navy of which inventory is mainly based on obsolete Soviet designs and old second hand ships. The new ships will be a welcome addition to NATO’s naval forces in the Black Sea too.
The new vessel will bear the name Hrabri, which translates to Brave in English, continuing the legacy of the early 20th-century Bulgarian Navy torpedo boat of the same name. The second ship in the class will be called Smeli.
Construction Timeline and Specifications
Both vessels are being built in parallel. Steel cutting for the first MMPV took place on December 3, 2021, at MTG Dolphin in Varna, while work on the second ship began about a year later, on December 14, 2022. The keel of the first vessel was laid on June 17, 2022, followed by the keel laying of the second on June 22, 2023. On August 4, 2023, the first ship was launched after being removed from the dock while on December 12, 2024, the second ship was launched. Hrabri is expected to be delivered before the end of the year, with the second vessel is scheduled for delivery in 2026.
The ships are based on NVL Group’s proven OPV-90 design. This design is an evolution of the smaller 1,650-ton OPV-80, which serves as the Darussalam-class with the Royal Brunei Navy (four units commissioned between 2011 and 2014), and the Arafura-class (six units) currently under construction for the Royal Australian Navy.
Measuring approximately 90 meters in length, with a beam of 13.5 meters, which define the MMPV 90 designation, the ships are being constructed under a €420 million contract (excluding weapons and ammunition) signed with Germany’s NVL Group on 12 November 2020. The whole project’s cost is estimated around €500 million. Their full load displacement exceeds the 2,300 tons. They are designed to achieve speeds of up to 24 knots and and offer a maximum range of more than 3,000 nautical miles. The crew consists of 70 men.
MMPV 90 Weapons and Electronics
The ship’s armament is impressive for a vessel of its size. It includes an 8-cell VLS for MBDA’s VL MICA/VL MICA NG SAM, which appear to have already been integrated, as indicated by the four uplink antennas on the mast. It is also equipped with provisions for two twin launchers for the Saab/Diehl Defence RBS15 Mk3 anti-ship missiles, which have not yet been installed. Additional weaponry consists of a Leonardo OTO 76/62 Super Rapid gun, a Rheinmetall Oerlikon MILLENNIUM 35mm CIWS, and two twin Leonardo 324 mm torpedo launchers. The decoy systems comprise two Rheinmetall MASS launchers mounted on either side of the hangar, as well as two quad CANTO anti-submarine decoy launchers positioned on both sides of the funnel.
The electronic suite is supplied by Saab and includes the 9LV combat management system (CMS), the SEA GIRAFFE AMB multi-function radar (MFR) with integrated IFF, a CEROS 200 electro-optical fire-control radar (EO-FCR) atop the bridge, an EOS 500 electro-optical fire-control system (EO-FCS) on the aft mast, and an SME-series (likely SME-150) R-ESM system on the forward mast. Additional equipment includes a CCTV system, two Raytheon Anschütz NautoScan NX navigation radars (X- and S-band), SATCOM, and a hull-mounted sonar (HMS).
The ship carries two RHIB amidships, one large and one small, while it is also fitted with a hangar and a flight deck for operating a Eurocopter AS565MB Panther helicopter (two helicopters in the Bulgarian inventory) and UAV. The MMPV has the potential to carry a variable depth sonar (VDS) and other equipment at the stern which is fitted also with a stern ramp for launching and recovering a large RHIB.
