Frigate sale to Greece turns Italy’s active warships into fast cash

ROME — Italy is to sell Greece two Fremm-class frigates which are currently in service with the Italian navy, marking a new chapter in Italy’s successful series of export sales to naval customers who need quick delivery.

The national armaments directors of Italy and Greece signed a preliminary agreement on Monday for the sale to the Greek navy of the Bergamini - a general purpose FREMM - and the Fasan - an anti-submarine variant.

Both were built by Italian state shipyard Fincantieri and have been in service with the Italian navy since 2013.

Fincantieri, which will handle the sale, said in a statement the final deal would also include a support package it would manage.

Greek media has reported each vessel will be sold for €300 million ($352 million).

A key selling point will be speed: the delivery will take a fraction of time it would require to build new vessels at a moment when Greece is seeking to respond to rising military tensions in the Mediterranean and rivalry with its neighbor Turkey.

The deal follows the sale by Italy to Indonesia and Egypt of vessels that were already under construction for the Italian navy.

When Indonesia signed a €1.18 billion contract last year to acquire two Fincantieri PPA vessels, Italy accelerated the deal by offering vessels already being built to fulfill the Italian navy’s own order for seven ships.

This year, Italy filled the consequent gap in its navy order book by placing an order for two more PPA vessels with Fincantieri which will be delivered to the Italian navy in 2029 and 2030.

Italy has previously sold two Fremm frigates to Egypt which were already under construction for Italy and close to delivery.

When they were sold they were promptly replaced by new orders to fill the gap for the Italian navy.

The Greek sale will not only give Greece frigates fast but will also allow Italy to order two newer, upgraded FREMM ‘Evo’ frigates to fill the gap left in the Italian fleet.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——意大利将向希腊出售两艘目前在意大利海军服役的弗雷姆级护卫舰，这标志着意大利向需要快速交付的海军客户成功出口销售的新篇章。

意大利和希腊国家军备主管周一签署了一项初步协议，向希腊海军出售贝尔加米尼级（Bergamini）通用型FREMM护卫舰和法桑级（Fasan）反潜舰。

这两艘船均由意大利国营造船厂芬坎蒂尼造船厂建造，自 2013 年以来一直在意大利海军服役。

负责此次出售事宜的芬坎蒂尼集团在一份声明中表示，最终协议还将包括由其管理的配套支持方案。

希腊媒体报道称，每艘船的售价为 3 亿欧元（3.52 亿美元）。

关键的卖点在于速度：交付所需时间仅为建造新舰艇所需时间的一小部分，而此时希腊正寻求应对地中海日益紧张的军事局势以及与邻国土耳其的竞争。

此前，意大利已向印度尼西亚和埃及出售了原本为意大利海军建造的舰艇。

去年，印尼签署了一份价值 11.8 亿欧元的合同，购买两艘 Fincantieri PPA 船舶。意大利加快了这笔交易，提供了正在建造的船舶，以满足意大利海军自己订购的七艘船舶的需求。

今年，意大利通过向芬坎蒂尼造船厂订购两艘PPA舰艇填补了海军订单簿上的空缺，这两艘舰艇将于2029年和2030年交付给意大利海军。

意大利此前曾向埃及出售两艘弗雷姆级护卫舰，这两艘护卫舰当时已在意大利建造，即将交付。

这些舰艇售出后，很快就接到了新的订单，以填补意大利海军的空缺。

希腊的这笔军售不仅能让希腊迅速获得护卫舰，还能让意大利订购两艘更新、升级的FREMM“Evo”型护卫舰，以填补意大利舰队的空缺。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。