Montenegro Launches First Kership OPV in €120 Million Naval Modernization Program

The first vessel, Petar I Njegoš, entered the water at Kership’s shipyard in Lorient, France, on September 11. It will now undergo several months of outfitting and trials before sailing to Montenegro in early spring 2027. The second ship, Petar II Njegoš, is expected to follow in early autumn 2027, according to Montenegro’s government. 

The two ships are being acquired under a €120 million contract signed with Kership in November 2024. Montenegro’s Ministry of Defence describes the program as its most significant defense procurement in recent years, while the government has called it the largest bilateral defense project undertaken with France to date. 

Kership, a joint venture between French shipbuilding groups Piriou and Naval Group, is supplying the vessels under a wider defense-cooperation agreement signed between Paris and Podgorica in April 2024. France’s Directorate General of Armaments, or DGA, is providing government-to-government support, including oversight of the program and quality assurance in France. 

Construction of the first OPV 60M formally began in April 2025. The second vessel was already well advanced by the end of last year, according to Montenegro’s Defense Ministry. 

The new ships are intended to replace part of a small Montenegrin fleet that has historically relied on older vessels inherited from Yugoslav naval inventories and to give the NATO member a significantly greater capacity for sustained operations in the Adriatic.

The OPV 60M is designed for maritime surveillance, border control, protection of critical infrastructure, search and rescue, interdiction operations and the deployment of special forces. Kership has also highlighted anti-piracy, humanitarian and pollution-control missions among the platform’s roles. Montenegro plans to use the ships both for national maritime-security missions and for contributions to NATO operations. 

The Montenegrin configuration is expected to carry a 40 mm main gun and two remotely operated 12.7 mm weapon stations. The vessels will also use Naval Group’s POLARIS combat-management system, providing a common architecture for onboard sensors and weapons and leaving scope for future integration of additional systems. Local reporting has previously indicated that the design could accommodate missile and anti-submarine capabilities as part of later upgrades. 

The ships are also being configured for more than conventional patrol work. Earlier details released during the procurement process indicated facilities for special-forces operations, two fast RHIBs, modular container positions and enhanced sensor capabilities. The OPV 60 family was designed around endurance and flexibility rather than the firepower of a conventional corvette, allowing mission equipment to be changed as requirements evolve. 

For Montenegro, the program forms part of a broader effort to rebuild maritime capabilities. The country has recently opened a new Navy Command building and operations center in Bar, modernized coastal surveillance stations and introduced new fast-response craft. The operations center is designed to provide an integrated maritime picture and secure information exchange with NATO allies. 

Speaking at the launch ceremony, Defense Minister Dragan Krapović said that modern equipment alone would not determine the ships’ effectiveness, stressing the importance of training and professionalism among Montenegrin Navy crews. Deputy Prime Minister Aleksa Bečić described the launch as evidence of a deeper strategic defense relationship between France and Montenegro. 

The arrival of the two OPVs will represent a substantial increase in capability for one of NATO’s smallest navies. Rather than building a traditional high-end surface combatant fleet, Montenegro is investing in platforms suited to persistent Adriatic patrols, maritime-security missions and allied operations while retaining room for future upgrades.

For France, the program also gives Kership another European NATO customer for its OPV family after the design established an export track record with Senegal — and turns the Franco-Montenegrin defense agreement into a significant industrial program on the Adriatic