Fincantieri press release
The program has a combined value up to more than USD 78 million. Thanks to the after-sales services tool, Fincantieri will further retain a top-tier customer such as the US Navy, allowing it to keep its ships running at a high level of performance. The Group is also engaged in the construction of the US Navy of tomorrow, with the “Constellation” class of frigates.
The Navy operates eight Avenger-class vessels, which are homeported in Bahrain and Japan. All of the vessels have diesel engines produced by Isotta Fraschini Motori, another Fincantieri’s subsidiary, of which FMSNA technicians are experts. All of the “Avenger”-class vessels were made in Marinette and Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, where Fincantieri operates some of the largest and most active shipyards on the Great Lakes.
Fincantieri Marine Systems recently opened a repair yard in Jacksonville, Florida, to support the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship fleet, built by Fincantieri in Marinette, and other vessels homeported nearby at Mayport Naval Station.
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About Avenger-class MCM vessels
In the early 1980s, the U.S. Navy began the development of a new mine countermeasures (MCM) force, which included two new classes of ships and minesweeping helicopters. The vital importance of a state-of-the-art mine countermeasures force was strongly underscored in the Persian Gulf during the eight years of the Iran-Iraq war, and in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991 when the Avenger (MCM 1) and Guardian (MCM 5) ships conducted MCM operations.
Avenger-class ships are designed as mine hunter-killers capable of finding, classifying, and destroying moored and bottom mines. The mission of MCM 1 class ships is to detect, classify and neutralize all known and projected types of influence and contact mines. There are three primary mission objectives: Minehunting, Mine Neutralization, and Mine Sweeping. The MCM 1 performs precise navigation and clears minefields by sweeping moored, magnetic, and acoustic influence mines. The MCM 1 also conducts coordinated operations with airborne and other mine countermeasure forces.
This is the largest US Navy Minesweeper to date. The last three MCM ships were purchased in 1990, bringing the total to 14 fully deployable, oceangoing Avenger class ships. These ships use sonar and video systems, cable cutters, and a mine detonating device that can be released and detonated by remote control. They are also capable of conventional sweeping measures. The ships are constructed of wood covered with Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) sheathing. They are the first large mine countermeasures ships built in the United States in nearly 27 years.
Specifications:
- Length: 224 feet (68.28 meters)
- Beam: 39 feet (11.89 meters)
- Displacement: 1,312 tons (1,180.8 metric tons) full load
- Speed: 14 knots (16.1 mph, 25.76 kmph)
- Propulsion: Four diesels (600 horsepower each), two shafts with controllable pitch propellers
- Complement: 8 officers, 76 enlisted
- Sensors/MCM Equipment: AN/SLQ-37 Magnetic/Acoustic Sweep System, AN/SLQ-38 Mechanical Sweep System, AN/SLQ-48 Mine Neutralization Equipment, AN/SQQ-32 Minehunting Sonar, AN/SQQ-30 Variable Depth Minehunting Sonar, AN/SSN-2 Navigation/Command and Control
