Italy has placed a contract for two new DDX destroyers for the Italian Navy, with the programme valued at approximately €3.7 billion including around €1.3 billion in options, according to Orizzonte Sistemi Navali.
The contract was signed between OCCAR and Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, the joint venture owned by Fincantieri and Leonardo, and covers development, production, logistics studies and initial in-service support. Fincantieri holds 51% of OSN and Leonardo 49%, with subcontracts expected to be placed in the coming weeks worth around €1.8 billion and €1.7 billion respectively.
The two ships are intended to replace the Italian Navy’s Horizon-class destroyers and will be considerably larger vessels, measuring around 180 metres in length and displacing 13,500 tonnes. Each will have a crew of 251 and a stated range of 4,000 nautical miles, with deliveries scheduled for 2033 and 2035.
Fincantieri will act as platform system integrator, while Leonardo will develop the combat system. OSN says the ships are being designed around a high degree of automation and digital integration, bringing together sensors, weapons, command-and-control systems and ship-management functions within a common architecture intended for multinational operations.
The combat system will include Leonardo’s SADOC 5 C5I system, a high-power fully digital S-band AESA radar and an MBDA weapons package. According to the company, the combination is intended to give the DDX an Integrated Air and Missile Defence capability against conventional missile, ballistic and hypersonic threats.
The platform will also incorporate a DC power sub-network with energy storage, a new stabilisation system integrated with the ship’s steering system and further development of Fincantieri’s digital ship-management architecture. The company says the design will also allow the destroyers to manage uncrewed surface and underwater systems as part of the wider combat system.
Pierroberto Folgiero, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of Fincantieri, said: “The DDX programme represents a strategic milestone for Fincantieri and for Italy’s national defence industry. It is one of the most significant naval programmes launched in Italy in recent years and confirms Fincantieri’s role as an industrial and technological reference point in the design and integration of complex naval systems.”
Leonardo Chief Executive Lorenzo Mariani said: “Taking part in this programme – which is set to establish new standards in naval defence capabilities – confirms the Italian Navy’s confidence in Leonardo’s technologies, which are capable of meeting the need to operate in an integrated manner across different domains and in complex scenarios.”
The DDX design also incorporates Fincantieri’s Navis Sapiens concept, intended to bring together data generated across the ship for operational decision-making, technical management and maintenance. Connectivity with shore facilities is planned to support predictive maintenance, logistics and the transfer of mission information between ship and naval base.
Actually seems like a quite a reasonable cost for such a large and capable warship. All this talk of £3 billion for a Type 83 seemed a stretch to justify it’s cancellation imo. In fact I think these ships workout cheaper than a flight 3 burke.
Because they’re built in Europe’s shipbuilding capital, home of efficiency and cheap prices.
You reckon BAE, who has spent the last decade building Glasgow for a similar price to one of these Italian destroyers, has any particular interest in being cheap or efficient?