Italian navy taps Fincantieri to top up patrol fleet with two ships

ROME — The Italian navy has ordered two PPA multimission vessels from local shipyard Fincantieri, filling a gap after two PPAs previously ordered by the sea service were diverted to Indonesia.

The vessels will be delivered to the Italian navy by Fincantieri in 2029 and 2030 under a contract worth €700 million ($819 million) which also covers work carried out to convert the two ships sold to the Indonesian navy.

Sold in variants ranging from “Light” to “Full,” the new vessels for Italy are designated “Light Plus.” The 143 meter long, 31 knot, 171-crew ships are equipped with systems provided by Italian defense giant Leonardo thanks to an ongoing team-up with Fincantieri.

When Indonesia signed a €1.18 billion deal in March 2024 to acquire two PPA vessels, Italy agreed to speed up the deal by delivering vessels already being built to fulfill the Italian navy’s own order for seven ships.

The tactic of diverting ships already under construction for Italy to foreign customers is proving a novel and effective sales tool by Italy.

Rome can promise overseas clients speedier delivery and a guarantee they will receive the same product the Italian navy does.

Italy has previously sold two Fremm frigates to Egypt which were already under construction for Italy and were promptly replaced by new orders to fill the gap for the Italian navy.

Fincantieri signed in 2021 to sell six FREMM frigates to Indonesia in 2021.

The shipbuilder has meanwhile launched a new “EVO” version of its PPA vessels, which are kitted out with extra missile launchers, including cruise missile launchers. The variant will get extra Sylver 50 launch modules which house Aster missiles but also Sylver 70 launch modules which will fire Aster missiles as well as cruise missiles, including the MdCN naval land attack missile.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——意大利海军已向当地造船厂芬坎蒂尼订购了两艘PPA多用途舰艇，填补了此前海军订购的两艘PPA舰艇被转送至印度尼西亚后留下的空缺。

根据价值 7 亿欧元（8.19 亿美元）的合同，芬坎蒂尼集团将于 2029 年和 2030 年向意大利海军交付这两艘舰艇，该合同还涵盖了为改装出售给印度尼西亚海军的两艘舰艇而进行的工作。

这些新型舰艇分为“轻型”到“全功能”等不同型号，意大利的型号被命名为“轻型加强版”。这些舰艇长143米，航速31节，船员171人，配备了意大利国防巨头莱昂纳多公司提供的系统，这得益于该公司与芬坎蒂尼集团的持续合作。

2024 年 3 月，印度尼西亚签署了一项价值 11.8 亿欧元的协议，购买两艘 PPA 船舶。意大利同意加快交易进程，将正在建造的船舶交付给印尼，以满足意大利海军自身订购的七艘船舶。

将意大利正在建造的船舶转而交付给外国客户的做法，已被证明是意大利一种新颖而有效的销售手段。

罗马可以向海外客户承诺更快的交货速度，并保证他们收到的产品与意大利海军收到的产品相同。

意大利此前曾向埃及出售两艘弗雷姆护卫舰，这两艘护卫舰原本是为意大利建造的，但很快就被新的订单所取代，以填补意大利海军的空缺。

芬坎蒂尼集团于 2021 年签署协议，向印度尼西亚出售六艘 FREMM 护卫舰。

与此同时，该造船厂推出了新型“EVO”型PPA舰艇，该舰艇配备了额外的导弹发射装置，包括巡航导弹发射装置。该改进型将配备额外的Sylver 50发射模块（可发射Aster导弹）以及Sylver 70发射模块（可发射Aster导弹以及包括MdCN舰载陆攻导弹在内的巡航导弹）。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。