Under the agreement with the Ports of Normandy Authority, space will be marked out for DCNS on the Quai des Flamands.

A follow-on deal will be drafted “within a year” to cement financial arrangements and finalise the exact dimension of the “several hectare” facility, which is slated to start operation in 2014.

“We want the new plant to be the first of its kind in Europe,” says DCNS chief executive Patrick Boissier.