PESCO project to develop building blocks for future European ships
4E will cover five principal areas of development. (Image: Navantia)
From AAW destroyers to ASW frigates and escorts, common systems could be incorporated on any number of vessel classes built by EU member states under the 4E programme.
A new Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) project, the Essential Elements of European Escort (4E) programme, seeks to develop blocks of systems that can be included in ships built by EU countries between 2030 and 2045.
4E development efforts will cover five areas: combat systems; communication systems; information systems; platform management; and system-of-systems integration.
According to PESCO, initially identified systems include anti-surface missile defence, electromagnetic and directed-energy weapons, smart damage control systems, astronomical navigation systems independent from SATCOM, and efficient energy and propulsion systems using a common EU fleet fuel, among others.
While the above systems are examples given by PESCO,
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