The Italian Navy has exercised an option for the construction of a fourth next-generation offshore patrol vessel (OPV) from Orizzonte Sistemi Navali (OSN), the joint venture owned by Fincantieri (51%) and Leonardo (49%), the two companies announced on 5 August 2024.
The total value of the order is about EUR 236 million, from which around EUR 163 million will go to Fincantieri and EUR 70 million to Leonardo.
The original contract for three OPVs, valued at EUR 925 million, was signed by OSN and the Italian Secretariat General of Defence and National Armaments Directorate in July 2023. The contract included options for a further three units.
The Italian Navy’s OPV programme, initiated to contribute to the modernisation and renewal of the Italian Navy’s fleet, responds to the need to ensure adequate capabilities for presence and surveillance, maritime patrolling, merchant traffic control, protection of lines of communication and the exclusive economic zone, as well as operations to protect against threats derived from marine pollution, such as toxic liquid spills.
With a length of about 95 m, a displacement of 2,300 tonnes and the capacity to accommodate 97 crew members, the new OPVs, which are being built at Fincantieri’s Riva Trigoso and Muggiano Integrated Shipyard, “will be marked by a package of technological solutions, as well as standards of excellence in automation and manoeuvrability that will make them suitable for operating in a wide range of tactical scenarios and weather conditions”, the two companies stated.
Among the OPVs’ most innovative features is their naval ‘cockpit’, which was developed for the Italian Navy’s Multipurpose Offshore Patrol Vessels (PPAs). This has an integrated workstation, co-produced by Leonardo and Fincantieri NexTech, that allows the ship and its airborne operations to be controlled by just two operators, the pilot and co-pilot, who take on the responsibilities of the bridge watch officer and the captain. From this station, located in the command bridge, it is possible to manage the vessel’s powerplants, rudders and platform systems as well as some functions of the combat management system.
