PARIS — The European Union has started work on a next-generation combat ship that could enter service in the 2040s, and the bloc’s defense ministers could sign a letter of intent to pursue the project during a meeting in two weeks, the European Union chief said. said the maritime unit of the European Defense Agency.

Six EU member states are “very interested”, including four with larger navies, Jürgen Scraback, who heads the maritime domain unit at the EDA, told Defense News at the Euronaval conference here, after having participated in a round table on the projects.

It is estimated that EU countries will need at least thirty combat ships in the future, although Scraback said he does not believe all of them will be built under the European combat ship program. The EDA official expects the program’s budget could exceed 20 billion euros ($22 billion) in 2024 prices.

“This new generation of ships will be completely different from the ships we currently have, because the scenario of naval warfare is changing a lot,” said Fernando Miguélez García, president of the European Naval Industry Group (ENIG) within the European Aerospace and Security Union. and the Defense Industry Association, which participated in the roundtable.

The design changes would likely involve a mothership-like capability to carry drones into combat, he added.

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In May, EU defense ministers tasked the EDA with presenting a concrete project proposal for discussion in November, according to Scraback. The agency held a first meeting in July to assess the appetite of member states, followed by a workshop in September to define high-level requirements for the future vessel.

The future ship will have to be a compact ship capable of countering “a full spectrum of threats”, including new ones, from small drones to hypersonic anti-ship missiles, said Ignacio Cuartero, director of the Concepts and Capabilities Directorate of the EU military headquarters within the EU. European External Action Service.

EU defense ministers will meet on November 19 to discuss the project, “so in two weeks we will have a clear indication of what member states want,” Scraback said. He said Spain and Italy were interested in signing, while France was not yet sure.

The requirements of the future ship include a reduced crew, and therefore a high degree of automation, as well as unmanned systems of different sizes, according to Scraback.

Based on feedback from member states, the requirement could be for a vessel with a displacement of 8,000 tonnes or more, Scraback said. This is based on factors such as modularity, the need to carry containerized payloads as well as the ability to equip many small and large unmanned systems, according to the EDA official.

For comparison, the brand new FDI defense and intervention frigate displaces 4,500 tonnes, while the displacement of the Franco-Italian FREMM frigates is around 6,000 tonnes. The anti-submarine warfare frigates ordered by the Netherlands will have a displacement of 6,650 tons, and the future German F126 frigate will have a displacement of around 10,000 tons.

The next generation of combat ships will need to be “smart ships” integrating technologies such as artificial intelligence and a naval combat cloud, according to Cmdr. Alfonso Carrasco, of the plans division of the Spanish Navy. Modularity will be important to allow ships to switch between tasks, Carrasco said.

Hypersonic threats will require increased automation and AI to “significantly” reduce reaction time, as well as interconnectivity with other ships and drones to increase detection capabilities, according to Miguélez García, president of ENIG, who is also Spain’s representative to the EU and NATO. shipbuilder Navantia.

New directed energy weapons, such as lasers and railguns, will require different types of onboard power generation, including rapid power generation to power those weapons, he said. The future combat ship will need to be built using new materials such as composites for stealth purposes.

The European naval industry is working to define its gaps in technological capabilities, with the next step being to determine how companies can collaborate to fill these gaps, according to Miguélez García. European industry has “obvious gaps” in areas such as weapons and sensors, he said.

Weapons companies are working together to try to define the new types of weapons needed and the means to defend against them, while another group works to define the digital architecture and energy plan required. , he explained.

The EDA and member states are considering whether to make the future combat ship a project under the EU’s Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), which would ensure commitment from heads of state, said Scratchback.