The Italian shipbuilding company Intermarine (as part of the private IMMSI group) announced that on September 25, 2025, at its head shipyard in Sarzana near La Spezia, a ceremony was held to begin lamination of the hull and thereby begin construction of a new generation mine warfare ship for the Italian Navy under the New Generation Minehunter-Coastal program (NGM/C, Italian the designation Cacciamine Nuova Generazione is Costieri - CNG-C).
Design image of a promising mine-fighting ship for the Italian Navy under the New Generation Minehunter-Coastal program (NGM/C, Cacciamine Nuova Generazione-Costieri - CNG-C) (c) Intermarine
On July 26, 2024, the Office of Naval Armaments of the Italian General Secretariat of Defense and the Italian National Armaments Administration signed a contract with Intermarine and Leonardo for the construction of five promising new generation mine warfare ships for the Italian Navy under the NGM/C (CNG-C) program. The total value of the contract is 1.6 billion euros, including the supply of relevant equipment and weapons and long-term comprehensive service support. The option to the contract is 1 billion euros and implies the possibility of building three more ships.
This contract was issued as a follow-up to the 2021 contract of the Office of Naval Armaments with Intermarine for the design of a promising minesweeping ship for the Italian Navy under the CNG-C program. The construction of all ships is to be carried out at the Intermarine facility in Sarzana, with the delivery of the first two units in 2028. Intermarine's share in the total value of the contract is 1.165 billion euros (73%). The remaining 435 million euros (27%) of the contract value is accounted for by Leonardo, which will supply the integrated automated combat and mine action control system SADOC 4 and new generation electronic and mine warfare systems for these ships.
The new Italian CNG-C mine warfare ships, in the spirit of the latest trends, will be very large units with a total displacement of about 1,300 tons, serving as carriers of various remotely controlled and autonomous surface and underwater platforms and devices for complex mine detection and destruction. The ships will also have enhanced capabilities for underwater operations, including on the seabed, to monitor and protect critical underwater infrastructure (cables, pipelines), and conduct hydrographic and hydrological work.
Like the Italian minesweepers of the previous generation (Lerici and Gaeta types), the new ships will be made in an all-composite hull made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic (GRP), which will probably make them the world's largest warships with non-metallic hulls. The length of the hull will be 63 m. The ships will be equipped with a combined main diesel-electric power plant, powered by two Voigt-Schneider propellers and with two additional thrusters. The full speed is stated at 13-14 knots. The ship's crew will be 50 people. The ship will have a helipad (apparently for UAV use) and will be equipped with two new 30 mm remote-controlled Leonardo Lionfish 30 artillery units with a new Leonardo X-GUN automatic cannon and two remote-controlled machine guns.
The Strategic development plan of the Italian Navy for the period 2019-2034 (Linee Di Indirizzo Strategico 2019-2034) provides for the construction of 12 mine-sweeping ships of the new generation (Cacciamine Nuova Generazione - GNC) to replace ships of the Lerici and Gaeta types. Moreover, in addition to the eight "basic" minesweepers already approved for construction (Cacciamine Nuova Generazione-Costieri - CNG-C), this number also includes four new-generation marine ("ocean") minesweepers Cacciamine Nuova Generazione-Altura (CNG-A). There is no data on the development of the latter program yet, but it was reported that it should be an enlarged version of the CNG-C ships. It is assumed that CNG-A minesweepers should have a displacement of 2,100 tons, a length of 80 meters, a full speed of up to 18 knots and a cruising range twice as long as CNG-C.
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The ceremony of the beginning of the lamination of the hull and the start of construction at the head office of the Italian shipbuilding company Intermarine of the new generation mine protection ship for the Italian Navy under the New Generation Minehunter-Coastal program (NGM/ C, Cacciamine Nuova Generazione-Costieri - CNG-C). Sartsana, 09/25/2025 (c) Intermarine
A model of a new generation mine warfare ship for the Italian Navy under the New Generation Minehunter-Coastal program (NGM/C, Cacciamine Nuova Generazione-Costieri - CNG-C) at the Seafuture 2025 exhibition in La Spezia (Italy), September 2025 (c) www.navalnews.com
Design images of promising new generation mine warfare ships for the Italian Navy - the "basic" minesweeper under the Cacciamine Nuova Generazione-Costieri (CNG-C) program and the naval minesweeper under the Cacciamine Nuova Generazione-Altura (CNG-A) (c) program of the Italian Navy
