3000t is a BIG corvette. That's the same size as a Type 21 Frigate and much bigger than a Leander.

Of course there's been a lot of growth in warship size since Type 21 was introduced, even more so for Leander, but that's still a big corvette!
 
Indeed that is a very heavy tonnage for a corvette, but if we call a 14.000ton ship a destroyer then I could see an 1500ton missile boat as well...
(Though I've seen a site that classified Zumwalt as a Cruiser rather a Destroyer)
 
Just look at what happened with the Israeli Sa'ar series of fast attack craft, the most recent classes in that series are Sa'ar 5 (1200 tonne corvettes), Sa'ar 6 (1900 tonne corvettes), which is quite a growth when you realize that the Sa'ar 1 series only weighed only around 220 tonnes.
 
I agree that 3000 tons seems to be large for a Corvette, but I agree with the maxim steel is cheap air is free. Look at the River class OPV, it would not have cost much more to build a more capable ship - Bofors 57mm or an OTO 76mm and a hangar for the helo, provision for SSM and SAM. I personally regard the Rivers to be to cheap for us to afford.
 
Finland is working on a series of 3900 ton ships - and calling them Corvettes.

"Flotilla admiral Jori Harju (Commander of the Finnish Navy) noted that one of the reasons leading to the increased displacement is the additional strengthening of the hull, propulsion shaft lines and propellers required for year-round operation in the seasonally freezing Finnish territorial waters. He also pointed out that the Pohjanmaa class is intended to operate primarily in coastal waters whereas frigates are traditionally considered as the smallest class of warships operating in the high seas as part of a so-called blue-water navy."

 
I agree that 3000 tons seems to be large for a Corvette, but I agree with the maxim steel is cheap air is free. Look at the River class OPV, it would not have cost much more to build a more capable ship - Bofors 57mm or an OTO 76mm and a hangar for the helo, provision for SSM and SAM. I personally regard the Rivers to be to cheap for us to afford.
They considered fitting an OTO 76mm to the Castle class. The gun would cost more than the rest of the ship combined.

The Norwegian Jan Mayen class displace around 9800 tons, whilst China has a pair of 12000 ton Coast Guard Cutters. 3000 tons may end up being the lower end of the scale for ships performing OPV duties.
 
Looks very similar to the Mexican 107.5 m Damen Sigma 10514 LROPV, full write up below on the EPC, shows first ship IOC mid 2027

 

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I agree that 3000 tons seems to be large for a Corvette, but I agree with the maxim steel is cheap air is free. Look at the River class OPV, it would not have cost much more to build a more capable ship - Bofors 57mm or an OTO 76mm and a hangar for the helo, provision for SSM and SAM. I personally regard the Rivers to be to cheap for us to afford.
They considered fitting an OTO 76mm to the Castle class. The gun would cost more than the rest of the ship combined.

The Norwegian Jan Mayen class displace around 9800 tons, whilst China has a pair of 12000 ton Coast Guard Cutters. 3000 tons may end up being the lower end of the scale for ships performing OPV duties.
One of the original proposal for the Castles was a mount based on a L7 tank gun, the original mount was very simple but was considered to be accurate and suitable for the role, but then they started to improve it, planned it to be stabilized and give it power loading which drove the cost through the roof!!
 
France unlike the UK relied on a very hi and very lo mix of George Leygues and A69avisos in the Cold War. The UK after the T21 experiment went back to a single class in the T23.
Now the UK and France seem to have agreed that numbers require a mix. Italy has always had a mix.
 
From back in 2020:
1626898902074.png
ORIGINAL CAPTION: Sketches of Naval Group’s Ocean Avenger concept ship in corvette configuration. This design could theoretically serve as base for the EPC.

 
From back in 2020:
Eurgh! That's terrible! It looks like a Zumwalt that was kicked in the face!

On a more serious note, could it be that the concept of a corvette is moving closer to what an LCS is? Apart from that, new systems, roles and uses for these ships, as well as new weapons mean that they have to get larger to cope.

Below are renderings of what the corvette is supposed to look like.
 

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On a more serious note, could it be that the concept of a frigate is moving closer to what an LCS is?
Doubtful, given just how badly the concept in general has been discredited. Though that ended up being quite different from its 'Streetfighter' origins I should note in passing.
 
It is worth highlighting that the Italian MoD's DPP 2021-2023 the EPC is mentioned, though oddly it is simply described an OPV. Funding for the new class of eight OPVs (PPX/EPC) will open in 2023 with €2.8M followed by €12.2M from '24 to '26. Bulk of the funding will fall from 2027 to 2035 (€1.49bn). Estimated total requirement is €3.5bn.

The role of these OPVs is described as filling the role of presence and surveillance, fisheries supervision, control of merchant traffic, protection of Sea Lines of Communication of the nation, and of the nation's EEZ.

Somewhat older references by now, but European Defense Review also has a series of good articles on the EPC designs and what the participating nations want out of them;

Main Article
 
Here are 2 recent pictures of the EPC/MMPC from Euronaval.


A couple of interesting details:

- 2 hull lengths: The “long range” hull for the French and Spanish navies is lengthened in 2 places (+3-4m amidships between the funnels and the RHIBs, and +5-6m behind the secondary gun mounts)

- Modular spaces: Access panels to store 4 containers under the flight deck + 2 containers amidships between the RHIBs with access through the helicopter hangar

- Armament: 57mm or 76mm main gun, 8x anti-ship missiles, 8 VLS (expandable to 16 VLS), 2x 20mm or 30mm cannons (Narwhal or Marlin).

- 3 mast structures: French pyramid-style integrated mast (which puts the ESM antennas and IR sensors high up for increased passive detection horizon) vs. Italian separate radar & ESM masts which puts the radar high up. There is a 3rd option (for the Greek variant?) with a more traditional mast with rotating NS100 style radar

- Stern door for a RHIB ramp or a towed sonar

- No decoy launchers, with not a lot of free deck space available on the basic version to fit them... this will need to be fixed
 

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