Uruguay intends to acquire two offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) for a combined amount of about USD100 million, according to Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou.
The procurement will be composed of two different requests for proposal, one for brand new vessels and the other for second-hand units, President Pou told the media on 16 December.
For the latter, the age was capped at 10 years after ship-launch. In the case of the new units, the government requires the first to be operational by mid-2024, and the second, ideally, by the end of 2024.
The basic requirements are similar to those requested in the two failed attempts to acquire such vessels during previous governments over the past decade and include a 76 mm cannon as the main armament and a hangar for medium-sized helicopters.
In previous years, Uruguay had sought to buy three OPVs. However, the government is now allocating enough money to buy only two ships.
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