New Amphibious Ship for Italian Navy

New Amphibious Ship for Italian Navy

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amphibItalian state shipyard Fincantieri and Italian defense group Finmeccanica have signed a €1.1 billion (US $1.2 billion) contract to construct a new amphibious ship, or LHD, for the Italian Navy.

In a statement, the two firms said that Finmeccanica’s share of the deal was €273 million and Fincantieri’s share was €853 million, with the vessel to be delivered in 2022.

Fincantieri is the lead firm in a temporary consortium between the two firms, with Finmeccanica’s unit Selex ES handling the combat system.

According to Defense News , the order is part of a €5.4 billion renewal program for the Italian Navy, and follows the signing by the firms in May to build six multipurpose offshore patrol ships, known by their Italian acronym PPA, and one logistics support ship.

The PPA vessels will be delivered between 2012 and 2025. Fincantieri and Finmeccanica will provide 10 years of logistics support for the vessels.

future forces_3Selex will supply an X band, four-fixed-face, multifunctional, scanned-array radar for the LHD and integrate systems supplied by Oto Melara, WASS and Elettronica, the statement said.

The unit will be approximately 200 meters long with a maximum speed of 25 knots. It will be equipped with a combined diesel and gas turbine plant and be able to accommodate on board more than 1,000 people, of whom more than 700 would be military or civilian transported people.

The LHD’s military profile provides transport and landing, in equipped and unequipped areas, of troops, military vehicles, and logistics equipment, but is intended for civil use as well, for tasks like transferring people and cargo, supplies and rescue operations.