The Colombian Ministry of Defense signed an agreement with Damen to build five frigates for its navy. According to the agreement, the frigates will be built at the Colombian state-owned Cotecmar Shipyard. The expectation of the Colombian Navy and the Cotecmar Shipyard from the project is to have an equipped system that can operate in the ocean and create a defense force in the ocean.
A Colombian soldier told DefenseNews: “It will likely be signed in 2023 and actual construction will begin later that year as several technical and industrial aspects and even some systems, including sensors and weapons, are still undecided.”
On the other hand, it is expected that the government will begin the decision-making stages for the deployment of frigates in the 2030s.
The tonnage of the frigates built is planned to be between 2800 and 2900. The Colombian frigates will be the elongated and largest version of Damen’s Sigma 10514 design. The price of each fully equipped frigate is expected to be approximately 400 million dollars.