According to the European Security and Defense website, in recent years, low investment in navies by European countries has led to a continuous reduction in the number of ships in their naval fleets. For example, as of January this year, the British Navy had a total of 68 vessels in service, compared to over 115 during the Falklands War in 1982. However, according to reports, although the naval scale of many European countries has shrunk and the order volume of European shipyards has also decreased, this has not affected the global competitiveness of the European shipbuilding industry. According to the analysis report on the market size and share of European naval vessels from 2024 to 2029 released by market research firm Mordor Intelligence, the market size of European naval vessels is expected to reach 35.44 billion US dollars in 2024 and 57.62 billion US dollars in 2029. This involves a series of ships such as aircraft carriers, frigates, destroyers, submarines, etc., but the most planned purchases are still frigates and maritime patrol ships. The reasons are based on the following two points: firstly, countries such as Italy and Spain are facing challenges such as refugees and illegal immigrants, and there is a high demand for such ships; Secondly, escort ships have developed into large tonnage and multifunctional vessels, with an increasing number of weapon systems. In addition to performing anti submarine, patrol, and escort missions, they also have long-range attack capabilities and are highly valued by navies of various countries. European naval shipbuilding giants such as Spain's Navantia Shipyard, France's Naval Group, Italy's Fincantieri Group, and Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems have not only developed business strategies tailored to their respective realities to win orders from European and overseas customers, but are also increasingly collaborating on major projects. For example, the European patrol frigate project is believed to revitalize the entire European naval shipbuilding industry. The first phase of the project, the design phase, began in October 2023. The French Navy Group issued a statement stating that the project marks an important step forward in European defense cooperation, which will help strengthen the exchange of skills and professional knowledge within European industry, thereby improving shipbuilding efficiency and reducing the risk of ship delivery delays. In April of this year, Italy's Fincantieri Group signed a contract worth 1.18 billion euros (approximately 1.313 billion US dollars) with Indonesia to build two di Lafer class multi-purpose patrol ships for the latter. Some analysts believe that in the context of increasing geopolitical uncertainty in Europe, Indonesia did not choose Asian shipyards nearby, but instead chose the Italian Fincantieri Group, indicating that it has more confidence in the construction capabilities and competitiveness of European naval shipyards. In addition to the aforementioned orders, several shipyards in Europe have also received ship orders from overseas markets in the past two years. For example, Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems has been awarded a $3.4 billion contract to develop three advanced submarines for the Israeli Navy. Previously, the group delivered two 218SG submarines to Singapore. The design proposal for the Arrow-140 frigate launched by Babcock International in the UK has been selected by the Polish Navy's Swordfish frigate program. In the future, these frigates will be built at a naval shipyard located in Gdynia, Poland. The Italian Fincantieri Group is building the first Constellation class frigate for the US Navy. Dutch shipyard Damen will support Colombia in manufacturing its first domestically produced frigate. Starting from 2023, the Spanish shipyard Navantia will begin building five multi mission warships for Saudi Arabia. (New Society)