Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, a joint venture of Fincantieri and Leonardo, has secured a $1.6 billion contract to build two Italian Navy warships through FREMM, a European multipurpose frigate program.
According to a Naval News report, the Italian Navy has ramped up its modernization activities over the past 10 years, and Fincantieri is involved in most of them.
OSN will manufacture the FREMM Evolution version of the vessels under contract with the Organization for Joint Armament Cooperation, a European intergovernmental body that manages collaborative armament programs.
The FREMM Evo units will feature anti-submarine, anti-drone and unmanned systems capabilities. The vessels will also integrate technologies from the mid-life upgrade project for the French and Italian Horizon-class destroyers, of which Fincantieri is one of the major stakeholders.
OSN will build Italy’s two FREMM Evos at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Riva Trigoso and Muggiano. The first vessel’s delivery is expected in 2029, and the second in 2030. Subcontracts valued at about $747 million for Fincantieri and $449 million for Leonardo will be firmed up for the project.
In May, the 10th and last of the Italian Navy’s FREMM vessels commissioned from Fincantieri was launched at the Riva Trigoso shipyard under a separate OCCAR contract, which delivered the first vessel in 2012.