Viana do Castelo-class patrol vessel


The Viana do Castelo class is a class of offshore patrol vessels planned by and for the Portuguese Navy, as a result of the NPO2000 Project, that are being constructed in the Estaleiros Navais de Viana do Castelo.

Design

The eight to ten vessels of this class, specially designed to operate in the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, will replace the and corvettes — currently being decommissioned —, and the small patrol boats of the in their primary fisheries protection role and in their search and rescue roles. Two of these vessels of the version Navios de Combate à Poluição will be fitted with anti-pollution systems — including Fast Oil Recovery systems. These vessels are named after Portuguese coastal cities.
The first vessel, NRP Viana do Castelo, was commissioned on March 2010 after several years of delay. Six additional vessels are planned by the Portuguese Navy as announced in 2016 to be built in 2017 and 2018. June 22 2018 the Portuguese Prime Minister announced an additional order of 6 Viana do Castelo Class ships to be built at same shipyard over next 6 years along with a multi purpose ship for a total of 500 million euros
Viana do Castelo was temporarily commissioned with an old 40 mm gun, but the Portuguese navy is acquiring two 30 mm Oto Melara Marlin guns for the first two vessels.

Armament

Armament consists of a 30 mm Oto Melara Marlin, it replaces one 40 mm L/60 turreted gun in the NRP Viana do Castelo, and two manned mounts to be armed with 7.62 mm light machine guns as well as two launching systems for MK55 Mod 2 mines.
The ships are designed to operate unmanned systems and are equipped with a single Sagem SA Vigy 10 MKIII naval surveillance and observation platform, three water cannons, and two rigid inflatable boats.
Each ship is capable of accommodating a Super Lynx MK95 light helicopter.

Ships