Leonardo, Fincanteri revamp joint venture, aiming to trim frigate build time by 18 months

Pierroberto Folgiero, Fincantieri's CEO, tours its Wisconsin shipyard. (Photo courtesy of Fincantieri Marinette Marine.)

PARIS — Italian defense companies Leonardo and Fincantieri this week announced a restructuring of their Orrizonte Sistemi Navali (OSN) joint venture, which the CEOs of both firms say could trim the time required to build a frigate by 18 months.

The joint venture, which has existed for over two decades, will return to its former model, in which OSN serves as an overarching integrator of an entire warship. The move would effectively change the conglomerate’s current approach, where Fincantieri and Leonardo generally manage separate aspects of the same ship.

The heads of Leonardo and Fincantieri, Lorenzo Mariani and Pierroberto Folgiero, signed a Letter of Intent at the Euronaval defense show here on Tuesday. Executives said the renewed joint venture, in which Fincantieri owns 51 percent and Leonardo 49 percent, would be more competitive in European and export markets.

“Italy has a strong industrial setup in the naval domain, which enables us to perform effectively and deliver faster than in the past. One of OSN’s key objectives will be precisely to shorten these lead times,” Pierroberto Folgiero, the CEO of Fincantieri, told reporters on the sidelines of Euronaval.

Folgiero said executives set a goal of cutting the delivery window for FREMM frigates from 54 to 36 months, a key “test case” that could determine whether the companies’ combined shipbuilding prowess can deliver a vessel on a timeline similar to the Korean industry.

The joint venture’s roster spans several vessel types, including the Italian Navy’s light multirole offshore patrol ship class, the PPX, and the FREMM EVO, an evolution of the Italian Navy’s European Multi-Mission Frigate program.

In September, OSN additionally signed a contract valued at €3.7 billion ($4.2 billion) with OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’Armement) for the development, production and initial in-service support for two new-generation DDX destroyers to equip the Italian Navy.

In July, Portugal awarded Fincantieri an approximate €3.9 billion ($4.4 billion) order to build three FREMM EVO frigates, with deliveries planned for 2029-2030. In September, Italy and Greece also finalized an agreement to transfer two Carlo Bergamini-class FREMM frigates from the Italian Navy to Athens, where Fincantieri will oversee the technical transfer and modifications of these warships.

Folgiero asserted that Italian Navy ships are “very well-proven at sea” and represent an important benchmark at a time of significant global demand for naval military vessels.

“The ships we have built together with Leonardo for the Italian Navy have a proven track record and are therefore well-positioned to benefit from the increased demand for military naval capabilities worldwide,” he said.

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芬坎蒂尼集团首席执行官皮埃罗贝托·福尔杰罗参观了其位于威斯康星州的造船厂。（照片由芬坎蒂尼马里内特海事公司提供。）

巴黎——意大利国防公司莱昂纳多和芬坎蒂尼本周宣布对其合资企业Orrizonte Sistemi Navali (OSN)进行重组，两家公司的首席执行官表示，此举可将建造一艘护卫舰所需的时间缩短18个月。

这家已成立二十余年的合资企业将回归其原有模式，即OSN作为整艘军舰的总承包商。此举将有效改变该集团目前的运作模式，即芬坎蒂尼和莱昂纳多通常负责同一艘军舰的不同方面。

莱昂纳多集团和芬坎蒂尼集团的负责人洛伦佐·马里亚尼和皮埃罗贝托·福尔杰罗周二在伦敦举行的欧洲海军防务展上签署了一份意向书。双方高管表示，重组后的合资企业（芬坎蒂尼持股51%，莱昂纳多持股49%）将在欧洲和出口市场更具竞争力。

“意大利在海军领域拥有强大的工业基础，这使我们能够比以往更高效地开展工作并更快地交付成果。OSN 的关键目标之一正是缩短这些交付周期，”芬坎蒂尼集团首席执行官皮埃罗贝托·福尔杰罗在欧洲海军展期间对记者表示。

福尔杰罗表示，高管们设定了一个目标，将FREMM护卫舰的交付窗口从54个月缩短到36个月，这是一个关键的“测试案例”，可以确定这些公司联合起来的造船实力能否在与韩国造船业类似的时间范围内交付一艘舰艇。

该合资企业的舰艇种类繁多，包括意大利海军的轻型多用途近海巡逻舰 PPX 级，以及意大利海军欧洲多用途护卫舰计划的改进型 FREMM EVO。

9 月，OSN 还与 OCCAR（Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d'Armement，军备联合合作组织）签署了一份价值 37 亿欧元（42 亿美元）的合同，用于开发、生产和初步服役支持两艘新一代 DDX 驱逐舰，以装备意大利海军。

7月，葡萄牙向芬坎蒂尼造船厂订购了三艘FREMM EVO型护卫舰，价值约39亿欧元（44亿美元），计划于2029年至2030年交付。9月，意大利和希腊也最终达成协议，将两艘卡洛·贝尔加米尼级FREMM护卫舰从意大利海军移交给雅典，芬坎蒂尼造船厂将负责这些军舰的技术转让和改装。

福尔杰罗断言，意大利海军舰艇“在海上久经考验”，在全球对海军军舰需求显著增长的时期，它们代表着一个重要的标杆。

他说：“我们与莱昂纳多公司为意大利海军建造的舰艇拥有良好的性能记录，因此能够很好地受益于全球对海军军事能力日益增长的需求。”

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