Italian Navy tasks Fincantieri to design drone-laden warships

ROME — The Italian Navy is planning for a future in which swarms of airborne, surface and undersea drones will deploy from its ships and has challenged shipyard Fincantieri to build and adapt vessels which are ready for the task.

“We expect new navy vessels in ten years will be using a large number of drones and we want to be prepared,” said Capt. Gianluca Marcilli, who heads the Technology Innovation Office at the Navy General Staff’s General Space and Innovation Office (UGSI).

A new Navy research project called “Swarm Drone Carrier,” which was unveiled by Marcilli at a Rome conference this week, has focused on how numerous drones used for search and rescue, interception and interdiction missions can be hosted on ships and integrated with sensors and combat management systems.

Officials have meanwhile tasked Italy’s Fincantieri – the Navy’s go-to ship builder – to drum up designs for future drone-friendly vessels.

“We want to challenge Fincantieri to rethink designs in a way that we can use launch and recovery systems for aerial, surface and undersea drones ,” Marcilli told Defense News.

“It means looking at how best to handle storage, maintenance and loading ammunition,” he said.

Marcilli said the study was based on the concept of a vessel being able to host between six and 10 undersea drones, able to be launched through apertures in the hull, rather than being launched with a crane.

The study also envisages four to six Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) drones on board, and has used Fincantieri’s SAND USV as a reference. Launched at Euronaval in 2022, the SAND (Surface Advanced Naval Drone) offers autonomy of up to 72 hours at eight knots.

The study proposed a typical airborne component of four to six drones, using as a reference the Hero, a 200kg rotary drone developed by Italy’s Leonardo.

The Navy is also looking at how to host fixed-wing, loitering munition on vessels, Marcilli said.

A major challenge officials face is integrating purchased drones with vessels’ highly classified Combat Management Systems, he added.

The study has led to the creation of a ‘proof of concept’ Landing Platform Dock design which could act as a drone carrier.

But Marcilli said the point of the study, and of Fincantieri’s involvement, was primarily to adapt vessels which are currently being built or planned.

That means figuring out how to better integrate drones into Italy’s under-construction Trieste Landing Helicopter Dock, which will also host the F-35B combat jet.

He said planners were also looking at Italy’s new PPX patrol vessels as well as two Fremm EVO vessels ordered last year from Fincantieri. The upgrades to Italy’s Fremm frigates are meant to offer enhanced capabilities for defeating drone attacks while operating their own drones.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——意大利海军正在规划未来，届时将有大量空中、水面和水下无人机从其舰艇上部署，并已要求芬坎蒂尼造船厂建造和改造能够胜任这项任务的舰艇。

“我们预计十年后新的海军舰艇将使用大量的无人机，我们希望做好准备，”海军总参谋部通用空间与创新办公室 (UGSI) 技术创新办公室主任詹卢卡·马尔西利上校说。

本周，海军司令马尔西利在罗马的一次会议上公布了一项名为“集群无人机航母”的新研究项目，该项目重点研究如何将大量用于搜索和救援、拦截和封锁任务的无人机搭载在舰船上，并与传感器和作战管理系统集成。

与此同时，官员们已责成意大利芬坎蒂尼造船厂（海军的御用造船商）设计未来适合无人机作业的舰艇。

“我们希望芬坎蒂尼公司重新思考设计方案，以便我们能够利用发射和回收系统来控制空中、水面和水下无人机，”马尔西利告诉《防务新闻》。

“这意味着要考虑如何最好地处理弹药的储存、维护和装填问题，”他说。

马尔西利表示，这项研究基于这样的概念：一艘船能够搭载 6 到 10 个水下无人机，这些无人机可以通过船体上的开口发射，而不是用起重机发射。

该研究还设想在舰上搭载四到六架无人水面艇（USV），并以芬坎蒂尼集团的SAND无人水面艇为参考。SAND（水面先进海军无人机）于2022年在欧洲海军展上发布，可在8节航速下实现长达72小时的自主航行。

该研究提出了一种典型的空中组件，由四到六架无人机组成，并以意大利莱昂纳多公司开发的 200 公斤旋转无人机 Hero 为参考。

马西利表示，海军也在研究如何在舰艇上搭载固定翼巡飞弹。

他补充说，官员们面临的一大挑战是将购买的无人机与舰艇高度机密的作战管理系统整合起来。

该研究催生了一种“概念验证”的着陆平台码头设计，该设计可作为无人机载体。

但马尔切利表示，这项研究以及芬坎蒂尼集团参与的重点主要在于改造目前正在建造或计划建造的船舶。

这意味着要弄清楚如何更好地将无人机融入意大利正在建设中的的里雅斯特直升机登陆舰，该舰还将部署 F-35B 战斗机。

他表示，规划人员也在关注意大利新型PPX巡逻舰以及去年从芬坎蒂尼集团订购的两艘FREMM EVO型护卫舰。意大利FREMM护卫舰的升级旨在提升其在操控自身无人机的同时，抵御无人机攻击的能力。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。