The ceremonial cutting of steel and laying of the keel on the slipway, symbolically marking the beginning of ship construction, for two new patrol ships of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Montenegro (AVCG) will be held on April 26 in Lorient, France.
These are two so-called OPV-60 M offshore patrol vessels, which are being mass-produced by the French corporation Kership. This is the single most significant and largest investment in the procurement of weapons and military equipment since the restoration of Montenegro's independence, as the two new ships, which are due to enter operational use by the Navy in early 2027, are worth 120 million euros. This sum does not include all weapons and equipment (especially missile and anti-submarine systems), which will be installed on these ships later.
Except for the Minister of Defense Dragan Krapović The Commander of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Montenegro, Frigate Captain, is traveling to France for a ceremony marking the start of construction of two ships. Milan Jevtović, Advisor to the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Montenegro for the Navy, captain of a battleship Vesko Tomanović, Acting Director General of the Logistics Directorate at the Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant Colonel Radovan Kostić, as well as the Chief of Staff of the Minister of Defense, Lieutenant Colonel Zelimir PojuzinaAccording to the official platform adopted by the Government for this event, they will be joined in Lorient by the Montenegrin Ambassador to France. Ivan Ivanisevic.
In addition to Montenegrin leaders, the ceremony will also be attended by high-ranking representatives of the French Ministry of Defense, as well as the French Ambassador to Montenegro. Anne-Marie MaskeIn addition to Krapović, the president of the Keršip corporation will also speak at the ceremony. Pascal Le Roy.
The contract with the French concern Kership for the construction of two ships was signed in November last year. The Ministry of Defense announced at the time that this was "the largest project within the framework of bilateral military cooperation between Montenegro and France, which received its legal framework through the conclusion of an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the field of defense," which was signed in April last year.
"The procurement in question is being carried out on the basis of a technical arrangement between the Ministry of Defense of Montenegro and the Minister of Defense of France on the procurement of two patrol ships by Montenegro, signed in July 2024," the Ministry of Defense stated. The signing of the technical arrangement was followed by the signing of a commercial contract with the shipbuilding corporation Kership, during the Euronaval Defense Industry Fair in Paris in November 2024.
This job was criticized by the former long-time Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Montenegro, a retired admiral. Dragan Samardzic, which questioned the legality of this procurement and implied that there was possibly corruption behind it. This was denied by the Ministry of Defense and the French Embassy in Podgorica.
Samardžić called the purchase of OPV-60 type ships, such as those already built by Keršip for the Senegalese Navy, an unnecessary waste, saying that they would be very expensive both for purchase and for later maintenance and regular use.
"We bought 60-meter-long ships, which, with additional interest on loans, will cost us around 70 million euros per ship, excluding VAT. The total price could reach as much as 140 million euros, excluding VAT, and the ships do not have missile systems, but only one 40 mm cannon. This is, without a doubt, waste of enormous proportions at the expense of citizens. I deliberately do not use the term 'stupidity', because it is not a matter of ignorance - whoever 'negotiated' the contract with the private company Keršip under these conditions, without a tender procedure and in an illegal manner, had to know what he was doing," said, among other things, Samaradžić.
He cited as a positive example of the ships that should have been acquired the new Croatian coastal patrol ships (OOB-31) of the "Omiš" type, which are being built by the Brodosplit company from Split, and whose introduction into operational use by the Croatian Navy has been delayed for years due to a series of technical shortcomings of these ships, rising prices and financial scandals that accompanied their acquisition. The OPV-60 M type patrol ships, which will be built for the Navy of the Republic of Montenegro in France, are 62 meters long, have a displacement of 620 tons, achieve a maximum speed of 22 knots, have an autonomy of 21 days at sea and an action radius of 5.000 miles. The ships also carry two fast intervention RHIB boats, each 6,8 meters long, on the stern, and on the aft deck they can load two standard TEU containers with modules for various missions - from scouting to missions to provide support for diving operations, humanitarian interventions or for action in the event of sea pollution.
Designed for longer patrolling missions at sea further from the coast, i.e. for control and surveillance of the territorial sea, the so-called exclusive economic zone, and also have the ability to use drones with vertical take-off and landing. The Ministry of Defense has not yet specified what specific weapons and sensors the two new Montenegrin patrol ships will be equipped with, but it is certain that they will carry a 40 mm bow cannon and two remote-controlled combat stations with 12,7 mm machine guns on the sides of the bridge.
According to unofficial information from "Vijesti", after construction in France, ships for the Navy of the Armed Forces of Montenegro will subsequently be equipped with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile weapons, most likely Israeli "Spike" missiles, or the French short-range air defense system of the "Mistral" type.
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