TSAMTO, July 15. According to Moroccan media with reference to the Italian magazine RID-Rivista Italiana Difesa, the Moroccan Armed Forces are negotiating with the Italian Fincantieri on the acquisition of two multi-purpose frigates of the FREMM class.
According to various sources, Morocco is discussing both the possibility of supplying new frigates and the acquisition of the ship (F-595) "Luigi Rizzo"from the Italian Navy.
Currently, the Moroccan Navy already has a French-built FREMM-class frigate in service. As reported by TSAMTO, the contract for the construction of a FREMM-class frigate for the Moroccan Navy was signed with DCNS (now Naval Group) in April 2008. Construction of the ship began in December 2008, the launching ceremony was held on September 14, 2011. The multipurpose frigate (D 601) "Mohammed-6" (Mohammed VI) was handed over to the command of the Moroccan Navy in Brest (France) on January 30, 2014.
FREMM is the largest European program for the construction of multi-purpose frigates, which has been jointly implemented by France and Italy since 2002 under the auspices of the European Arms Procurement Authority (OCCAR). Within the framework of the program, the Italian Navy placed an order for the construction of 10 ships by Orizzonte Sistemi Navali (a joint venture of Fincantieri (51%) and Leonardo (49%)) (6 in a multi – purpose version and 4 in an anti-submarine version).
The first 8 FREMM frigates were delivered to the Italian Navy from May 2013 to April 2019. Options for the construction of the ninth and tenth frigates in the multi-purpose version were implemented by OCCAR on April 16, 2015. (F-588) "Spartaco Shergat" and (F-589) "Emilio Bianchi" were launched in 2019 and 2020, respectively, but sold to the Egyptian Navy in 2020.
