As Naval News reported back in May, French shipbuilder Naval Group is offering its multi-purpose patrol and mine warfare vessel as a solution to the planned modernisation of the Lithuanian Navy.
As the next step, Naval Group is currently busy building a network of domestic companies to aid with the building and outfitting of the vessels in case of an order, as well as the launching of a collaborative research and development lab called SHIELD – Scientific Hub for the Innovation Ecosystem of Lithuanian Defense Lab. The idea behind SHIELD is to foster Lithuanian-French collaborative research projects and to further naval innovation in the Baltic States, and through that adding value for the Lithuanian stakeholders in both industry and academia.
MP-OPV (multi-purpose offshore patrol vessel)
The platform on offer is the MP-OPV (multi-purpose offshore patrol vessel), based on the City-class platform chosen for the Belgian-Dutch Replacement Mine Counter Measures (rMCM) program. The first Belgian vessel of the class, M940 Oostende, was handed over to the Belgian Navy in Zeebrugge earlier this year, and represents a new approach in mine countermeasures as it is a mothership that will rely on a fleet of surface, underwater, and aerial drones which will – largely autonomously – detect, classify, identify, and neutralize mines. Compared to traditional minehunting vessels, this procedure promises to be both be safer – as no humans enter the search area – and also faster, thanks to the high degree of automation and multiple platforms operating at the same time.
At 82 meters in length and 2,800 tons, the vessels are significantly larger than traditional minehunters, meaning they are also able to be truly multirole in nature. This last part is an important factor for the Lithuanian Navy, which see a need for offshore patrol vessels as well as the mine warfare role which traditionally has been a key capability for the small fleet. As such, Naval Group is confident that the MP-OPV would offer a suitable solution, noting that while it is a “new-generation platform,” it is also proven with the first delivery as mentioned already having taken place, and that as a NATO interoperable “combat ready” vessel with both advanced minewarfare capabilities and full multipurpose versatility, it fits Lithuania’s operational needs.
With the plan being that the ships would be at least partially built in Lithuania, with local companies participating in the outfitting, a number of memoranda of understanding on partnership agreements have already been signed. The single most important of these is likely the one between Naval Group and Western Shipyard Group, which describe a vision for jointly building the future MP-OPV in Klaipëda in Lithuania.
This MoU was signed at an industry day held in Vilnius last week, which also saw the launch of the SHIELD initiative. Other areas of cooperating discussed at the industry event was as an example the protection of the vessels, with companies such as Frankenburg Technologies providing their solutions to solve the counter-UAS requirement. Other Lithuanian companies mentioned as already having MoUs in place include Astrolight, Aktyvus Photonics, Unmanned Defense Systems, Granta Autonomy, and IT Logika.
