Elettronica has signed a supply contract with Fincantieri for the Electronic Warfare Suite of the Italian Navy’s new submarines. The company said in a press release that this would be done in the framework of the U212 NFS Programme managed by the Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’Armement (OCCAR). The contract includes the provision of two suites for the first batch of platforms and two additional systems as an option for future batches.
Elettronica is already the supplier of the Electronic Warfare equipment in the framework of the FREMM and PPA Programmes, also managed by OCCAR, and aims to extend the cooperation to EU co-funded projects. Electromagnetic Spectrum Operation (EMSO) is a key enabler for many diversified operations. In the Underwater Domain, EMS Management and Superiority support the submarine’s capability to operate without influencing the scenario directly.
The Electronic Warfare Suite designed for the Italian Navy U212 NFS Submarines represents a technologically advanced and innovative answer to those needs in the underwater domain, said in the press release.
Role in U212 NFS
Through a very high level of functional integration, the suite is able to perform self-protection, surveillance and intelligence tasks, granting excellent performances on the whole electromagnetic spectrum, from communication to radar bands.
The Suite has an integrated RESM/CESM antenna, the result of more than two years of studies and simulations. Two further antennas form part of the system, the first for surveillance and detection tasks in the radar band with the latter as a warning antenna.
Furthermore, the U212 NFS EW Suite implements enabling technologies, granting a high level of digitalisation. It relies on a Software-defined architecture, strongly reducing the HW component for a significant improvement of the operational availability. Finally, the EW Suit will be provided with an Electronic Warfare Management Unit able to collect and manage in an integrated way the information coming from both Radar and Communications EW Sensors.
Jack Richardson
