OCCAR Press Release
In accordance with the Italian Government Guidance to reduce the risk of Covid-19 spreading, the ceremony took place in the presence of a handful number of guests. During the ceremony, Mr. Pasquale de Candia, OCCAR PPA Programme Manager, together with Engineer Stefano Saione of FINCANTIERI, pressed the start button of the laser cutter.
PPA5 will be the second ship in “LIGHT PLUS” configuration, fitted with a complete set of artillery as well as a missile firing capability with actuators for ballistic missile defence too. LIGHT and LIGHT PLUS versions have been developed with the “fitted for” approach: every system on the FULL can quickly be deployed also on LIGHT and LIGHT PLUS, facilitating operational flexibility and growing capabilities during the Ships life.
PPA 5 First Steel Cutting has taken place 4 months in advance on contract schedule. The ship is planned to be delivered to the Italian Navy in October 2024.
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About Italian Navy’s PPA
The PPA (Pattugliatore Polivalente d’Altura) patrol ship is 133 meters long and can carry 90 crew members with additional accommodations for up to 171 members. The ship’s flexible hybrid propulsion plant features small gearbox mounted-motors for low speed operations, two propulsion diesels for mid-speed service and the LM2500+G4 gas turbine to reach more than 31 knots.
The PPAs are being built at Fincantieri’s Integrated Shipyard of Riva Trigoso and Muggiano, with delivery expected, for the first vessel of the class, in 2021, while the following deliveries will take place in 2022, 2023, 2024 (two units), 2025 and 2026.
The launching ceremony of the first the Multipurpose Offshore Patrol Ship (PPA) “Paolo Thaon di Revel” took place on June 15 2019 at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Muggiano (La Spezia). The first ship-in-class started sea trials on November 19. 2019.It is set to be commissioned in 2021 with the Italian Navy next year.
PPA versions: Light, Light+ & Full
The PPA is a highly flexible ship with the capacity to serve multiple functions, ranging from patrol with sea rescue capacity to Civil Protection operations and, in its most highly equipped version, first line fighting vessel. There will be indeed different configurations of combat system: starting from a “light” version for the patrol task, integrated for self-defence ability, to a “full” one, equipped for a complete defence ability. The vessel is also capable of operating high-speed vessels such as RHIB (Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat) up to 11 meters long through lateral cranes or a hauling ramp located at the far stern.
The PPA “full” version will see its total displacement increased to 6,270 tons (compared to 5,880 tons for the “light+” version and 5830 tons for the “light” version) and its length increased to 143 meters. PPA “full” will thus be comparable to Italian FREMM type frigates (total displacement of 6900 tons and a length of 144 meters). The crew complement of the PPA “full” configuration should be 173 people.
PPA Sensor and Weapon Systems
The sensor and weapon suite of these “patrol ships” is quite impressive, as the PPA in “full” configuration will be fitted with the Leonardo dual-band radar system AFAR (C and X bands), which provides missile defense capabilities as well as a towed and hull mounted sonar.
The armament of the ship should include the SAAM-ESD anti-aircraft missile system with 16 vertical launchers for Aster 15 and Aster 30 SAM, eight Teseo / Otomat Mk 2A Evolutio anti-ship missiles, a 127-mm / 64 Leonardo LW main gun and a 76mm secondary gun with Strales / Davide guided ammunition, two 25-mm remote weapon systems, two 533-mm torpedo launchers. The hangar will be able to accommodate two NH90 or a single AW101 helicopter. At the stern of the ship there is a ramp to quickly launch and recover a 11-meter RHIB, as well as two so-called modular zones with the possibility of placing there a total of 13 standard containers for reconfigurable payload.
PPA Specifications
• 132.5 meters long
• Speed more than 31 knots according to vessel configuration and operational conditions
• 171 persons of the crew
• Equipped with a combined diesel, a gas turbine plant (CODAG) and an electric propulsion system
• Capacity to supply drinking water to land
• Capacity to provide electricity to land with 2000 kw of power
• 2 modular zones at the stern and at the center of the ship that allow the embarking of various types of containerized operating/logistic/residential/healthcare modules (in particular, the stern area may receive and handle within a covered area up to 5 modules in ISO 20” containers, while the central zone may receive and handle up to 8 ISO 20” containers)
