Bulgarian Navy Received its First National Ship in 100 Years

The Bulgarian Navy has raised the flag on its first multi-purpose patrol ship Hrabri (Braves) of the MMPV 90 project.

The country’s navy said that this is the first ship in a century that the country has produced for the national fleet.

The ceremony emphasized the importance of a consistent policy of modernizing the Armed Forces.

Bulgaria will also soon receive approval from the European Commission for nine projects under the SAFE mechanism, two of which are related to the purchase of additional missiles for two new ships.

SAFE is a new EU financial instrument that will support those member states that want to invest in defense industrial production.

Construction of Hrabri

In 2020, the Bulgarian government signed a €503 million contract with the German shipbuilding group Fr. Lürssen Werft GmbH & Co. KG for the construction of two Multipurpose Modular Patrol Vessels (MMPV) of the MMPV 90 project.

The construction is being carried out according to the design and with the participation of Lürssen as the general contractor at the Bulgarian shipyard MTG Delfin in Varna.

In 2021, the role of the general contractor on the German side was transferred to the newly established NVL Group (Naval Vessels Lürssen), to which the Lürssen Group transferred its warship assets (in September 2025, it was announced that an agreement had been reached on the sale of NVL Group by the Lürssen Group to another German group, Rheinmetall, with the deal expected to be completed in 2026).

A subsidiary of NVL Group, Naval Technology Bulgaria, was established in Varna to provide technical design of ships and support construction.

The Bulgarian program for the construction of two promising surface ships was severely limited by a financial limit of BGN 1 billion (just over €500 million), which led to the early elimination of the former favorite of the Bulgarian Navy, the much more expensive corvette of the French Gowind Combat project (Gowind 2500).

As a result, it was not a full-fledged corvette that was chosen, but actually a medium-sized coast guard patrol ship with enhanced weapons.

The Lürssen MMPV 90 (Multipurpose Modular Patrol Vessel) project chosen by the Bulgarian side is actually a variant of the 90-meter OPV 90 patrol ship previously presented on the world market.

In turn, the OPV 90 is an enlarged version of the 80-meter patrol vessel PV 80 project, according to which Lürssen previously built four Darussalam patrol vessels for the Brunei Navy, and is currently building six Arafura patrol vessels in Australia.

Initially, the MMPV 90 project ships were scheduled to enter service in the third quarter of 2025 and the third quarter of 2026, respectively, and are to become the core of the renewed Bulgarian fleet.

The first steel cutting ceremony for the main Bulgarian patrol ship Hrabri (“Braves”) took place at the shipyard on December 3, 2021, and the official laying ceremony took place on June 17, 2022. The lead ship was launched on August 4, 2023.

The first steel cutting ceremony for the second ship, Smeli, took place on December 14, 2022, and the official laying ceremony was held on June 22, 2023. Smeli was launched on December 12, 2024.

MMPV 90 armaments

NVL Group reported that the Bulgarian ship has a standard displacement of 2100 tons and a gross displacement of 2300 tons, a length of 90 meters and a width of 14 meters.

The power plant is diesel, twin-shaft; the full speed is up to 25 knots, the range of navigation at an economical speed of 14 knots will be 3000 miles. Autonomy – seven days, crew – about 70 people.

The ship’s armament includes:

• four launchers of the Saab RBS-15 Mk 3+ anti-ship complex;
• an eight-container vertical launcher of the MBDA VL-MICA air defense system;
• 76-mm Leonardo Oto Super Rapid universal artillery system;
• 35-mm anti-aircraft artillery system Rheinmetall Oerlikon Millennium;
• two 324-mm three-tube torpedo launchers for Leonardo A244/S anti-submarine torpedoes.

The ship is equipped with a hangar for basing an Airbus Helicopters AS565MB Panther helicopter (the Bulgarian Navy has three such aircraft).

The ship’s electronic weapons, mostly supplied by the Swedish group Saab AB, include:

• Sea Giraffe AMB general-purpose radar,
• Ceros 200 fire control system,
• electro-optical system EOS 500,
• Saab 9LV combat information and control system,
• TactiCall communication system.

The ships are equipped with a Saab electronic warfare system and a Rheinmetall TKWA/MASS decoy system.