Navantia is positioning itself for Croatia’s planned two-ship corvette acquisition by partnering with AITAC and Iskra Shipyard. The agreements signed in Šibenik provide for potential Croatian involvement in engineering, construction, integration and through-life fleet support for the Multi-Role Corvette program.Croatia plans to acquire two new surface combatants under a program estimated at up to €1.6 billion ($1.7 billion), with Zagreb seeking significant participation from its domestic defense industry. Under the proposed cooperation model, AITAC would bring digital engineering and logistics expertise, while Iskra would use its industrial facilities and the recently acquired 3. Maj Shipyard in Rijeka to support local assembly and testing.The Spanish proposal is part of a competitive international field. Naval Group, Fincantieri and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries have each signed their own teaming arrangements with Croatian partners as they pursue the same requirement.The future vessels are intended to provide stronger protection against air and underwater threats. The anticipated weapons suite could include medium-caliber artillery, close-in heavy machine guns, autocannons, anti-submarine torpedoes, anti-ship missiles and multi-range surface-to-air missiles. Stealth characteristics and rotary-wing aviation support are also expected.The corvettes would mainly operate in the Adriatic Sea, which lies between Italy and the Balkan Peninsula and represents a strategically important NATO logistics and maritime corridor in southern Europe.
