A consortium of European firms led by Estonia is advancing the EUROGUARD project toward the development of a semi-autonomous system, with key milestones planned for 2026.
The vessel is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2026, with sea trials planned for the fourth quarter of the year.
Hull construction will take place at the Baltic Workboats shipyard on Saaremaa Island in Estonia.
The announcement comes as the project partners, headed by Estonia’s Baltic Workboats, recently met in Rome to define the following stages of development.
Representatives from the Estonian Centre for Defence Investment and the Estonian Navy also took part in the meeting.
The EUROGUARD program aims to enhance the EU’s naval response capacity by improving fleet coordination and adopting advanced maritime and weapons technologies.
“The knowledge and experience gained will provide a strong foundation for assessing the suitability of new technologies and for developing new capabilities,” said Ats Janno, Project Manager of EUROGUARD.
“While land and air defense technologies are advancing rapidly, maritime defense solutions have so far remained largely theoretical — EUROGUARD helps to change that,” Janno added.
The EUROGUARD Program
EUROGUARD involves building a 45-meter (148-foot) demonstrator vessel equipped to host multiple modular mission systems, allowing tests of autonomous functions in realistic coastal settings.
It will also support further assessment of how medium-sized semi-autonomous vessels can be employed, either independently or within larger naval formations.
Launched last year, the project has a total budget of 95 million euros ($109 million), including 65 million euros ($75 million) in funding from the European Defence Fund, which selected the initiative in 2022.
The initiative brings together 23 companies from 10 European countries.
Partner nations include Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, and Italy.
Poland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Sweden are also part of the consortium.
