Fincantieri press release
The ceremony, held in a restricted format and in full compliance with anti-contagion requirements, was attended by Sen. Stefania Pucciarelli, the Italian Undersecretary of Defence representing the Minister Lorenzo Guerini, Adm. Eduardo Serra, Italian Navy Logistic Commander, and Giuseppe Giordo, General manager of the Naval Vessel division of Fincantieri.
Godmother of the ship was Mrs. Anna Maria Pugliese, daughter of Admiral Stefano Pugliese, who was Commander of the light cruiser “Montecuccoli”, which entered into service in 1935 and was uncommissioned from the Italian Navy fleet in 1964.
This vessel, third of seven, will be delivered in 2023 and it is part of the renewal plan of the operational lines of the Italian Navy vessels, approved by the Government and Parliament and started in May 2015 (“Naval Act”) under the aegis of OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe de Cooperation sur l’Armement, the international organization for cooperation on arms).
About PPA – Multipurpose Offshore Patrol Ship
The multipurpose offshore patrol vessel 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 “soft” 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.
- 133 meters long between perpendiculars (143 meters overall)
- 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
The Multipurpose Offshore Patrol ships will be built at the Integrated Shipyard of Riva Trigoso and Muggiano, with deliveries expected until 2026.
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Naval News comments:
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 this year. The second vessel of the class, Francesco Morosini, was launched on 22 May 2020.
About the different PPA versions, 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). PPA “full” will thus be comparable to Italian FREMM type frigates (total displacement of 6900 tons). The crew complement of the PPA “full” configuration should be 173 people.
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.
