Under the contract, awarded by the Directorate-General of National Defence Resources of the Portugese Ministry of National Defence, the new six new Viana do Castelo-class offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) are planned to be delivered between 2027 and 2030. They will complement the Portuguese Navy’s four existing Viana do Castelo-class OPVs that entered service between 2011 and 2018. 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 (Portuguese, Navios de Patrulha Oceânica, for Oceanic Patrol Vessels), that are being constructed in the West Sea Shipyard. The boats will include provisions to operate unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), a helicopter, and two rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RHIBs), and will be able to deploy mission containers and pollution combat equipment.
The eight to ten vessels of this class, specially designed to operate in the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. Two of these vessels of the version Navios de Combate à Poluição (NCP) 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 (P360), 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( 60 million euros each) to be built at same shipyard over next 6 years along with a multi purpose ship for a total of 500 million euros. the order for 6 more NPO-2000 was finalized may 25 2021.
he ships are designed to operate automated 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. The Portuguese Navy is gradually upgrading its Viana do Castelo-class offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) during their maintenance cycles. This modernization is designed to eliminate logistical, functional and operational obsolescence; add capabilities needed for future operations; and enable the integration of modular systems for mission support, self-protection, surveillance and anti-submarine warfare (ASW). Also Viana do Castelo-class is being progressively upgraded to enable vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities
