Naval Group and Westcon Naval Shipyard Sign MoU to Foster Norwegian Frigate Support Ecosystem

27 June 2025

(Image credit: Naval Group)

The French naval defense company Naval Group and the Norwegian shipyard Westcon have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop a long-term strategic cooperation in Norway. This agreement is part of a series of agreements between Naval Group and Norwegian industries to reinforce industrial collaboration in support of the future Norwegian frigate program.

The MoU was signed on June 24th at the Norwegian Chamber of Commerce in Oslo. It is another concrete step towards securing national maintenance and Through Life Support (TLS) in Norway. The goal is to ensure operational availability of the FDI frigates at a level comparable to that of the French Navy’s FREMM frigates, which have maintained a fleet availability rate above 80%.

A New Step

With the signing of this MoU, Naval Group and Westcon shipyard are adding a new layer to the broad industrial organization, creating a Norwegian maritime and defense industrial cluster. The cluster will support the future maintenance organization, to be agreed upon in due time between the Norwegian authorities, Naval Group, and its Norwegian strategic partner.

“This agreement is a new stone in the development of a Norwegian maritime and defense cluster meeting our common ambition to develop a sovereign, resilient, and future-ready naval support structure in Norway. Westcon’s expertise is extremely valuable within this cluster we are building with our Norwegian partners,” said Guillaume Weisrock, Naval Group’s SVP for Sales and Business Development in Europe and North America.

“This is an important step for Westcon and the Norwegian maritime industry. Establishing a close and long-term collaboration with Naval Group is strategically important for us and for Norway, and we look forward to contributing actively to ensuring high availability and support for Norway’s future frigates,” said Øystein Matre, CEO of Westcon.

Strengthening Durable Industrial Ties

France is building durable industrial ties with Norway in the defense and maritime sectors and intends to be a trusted partner in supporting the Royal Norwegian Navy’s future requirements.

To this extent, Naval Group has signed a large number of MoUs and partnership agreements with Norwegian industrial companies and academics (examples: Konsgberg, CCB, Westcon, NORCE, SINTEF, Simula, Akkodis, NTNU), in order to integrate them into the group’s global supply chain.

The FDI

Thanks to the experience acquired on the FREMMs frigates, Naval Group has considered maintenance constraints throughout the FDI design process. Therefore, architectural choices have been made to allow easy maintenance, accessibility, adapted handling means, simulations of withdrawal paths (without breaching) for the largest equipment, etc.

The entire warship design is based on a state-of-the-art digital architecture. In addition to new data-centric capabilities, such as intelligent maintenance or the ability to process massive data and provide information and decision-making superiority, this digital architecture allows seamless continuous upgrades throughout its operational life to adapt to the future needs of the Navy and to next technological developments.