New Frigate Delivered to the Italian Navy

The frigate Alpino was delivered today at the Muggiano, La Spezia shipyard. It is the fifth vessel of the FREMM program - Multi Mission European Frigates - commissioned to Fincantieri within the international Italian-French program, coordinated by OCCAR (the Organization for Joint Armament Cooperation). Orizzonte Sistemi Navali (51 percent Fincantieri and 49 percent Finmeccanica) is the prime contractor for Italy in the FREMM program, which  envisions the construction of 10 units, all already ordered.

 

Alpino is the fifth FREMM unit built by Fincantieri and delivered to the Italian Navy including the combat system, the fourth with the ASW - Anti Submarine Warfare configuration, that is the ability of silent navigation speed in significant antisubmarine hunting.

 

At 144 meters long and with a displacement at full load of approximately 6,700 metric tons, the FREMM frigates represent technological excellence: designed to reach a maximum speed of 27 knots and to provide accommodation for 200 people (crew and staff), these vessels are able to always guarantee a high degree of flexibility and to operate in a wide range of scenarios and tactical situations, the builder said.

 

The program, coordinated by OCCAR, faces the need for the renewal of the Italian Navy’s Lupo (disarment completed in 2003) and Maestrale (close in reaching its operational life limit) class units.

 

These units contribute to the development of the tasks assigned to the Italian Navy, being able to operate in various sectors: antiaircraft, antisubmarine and antinaval warfare, fire support from the sea as well as an organic helicopter component embarked. The FREMM units are set to become the backbone of the Italian Navy over the next decades.