On March 18, 2022, at the shipyard of the Italian shipbuilding association Fincantieri in Mudgiano in La Spezia, a ceremony was held for the official commissioning of the Italian Navy of the lead "multipurpose patrol ship" P 430 Paolo Thaon di Revel of the new type Pattugliatore Polivalente d'altura (PPA), which is actually a fairly large multipurpose frigate of the new generation. The ship became part of the La Spezia-based 1st Naval Division of the Italian Navy (COMDINAV UNO).
The lead Italian "multipurpose patrol ship" P 430 Paolo Thaon di Revel of the new type Pattugliatore Polivalente d'altura (PPA) on trials (c) Fincantieri
The ship was built by Fincantieri in Mudgiano under a contract for the construction of the first six ships of the RRA type, concluded by the Italian Ministry of Defense with the participation of the European procurement Organization for cooperation in the field of armament OCCAR in May 2015. The ceremony of the first steel cutting, which marked the beginning of construction for the Italian Navy of the lead ship of the PPA type, named P 430 Paolo Thaon di Revel, took place at the shipyard in Mudgiano on February 13, 2017, the official laying was made on May 9, 2017. The ship was launched on June 15, 2019 in a high degree of readiness, and on November 12, 2019 began sea trials. InputPaolo Thaon di Revel was originally scheduled to join the Italian Navy in May 2021, but in the end it was made 10 months late.
The lead ship of the RRA type was named in honor of Admiral Paolo Emilio Taona di Revel (1857 - 1948), who was one of the leaders of the Italian Navy during the First World War, and in 1922-1925 - the Minister of the Navy of Italy. Admiral Taon di Revel is considered the initiator of the creation of the Italian Navy boat forces, which achieved outstanding success at sea at the end of the First World War.
Recall that the construction of six "patrol ships" of the RRA type for the Italian Navy (the total planned cost of six units is 2.62 billion euros, with an option for four more ships) was provided for in the Law on the Fleet (Legge Navale) adopted by the Italian Parliament at the end of 2014 with a total cost of financing of 5.428 billion euros. In addition to the construction of six "patrol" ships of the RRA type, this law provided for the construction for the Italian navy of a universal landing ship LHA (UDC, with a planned cost of 844 million euros), an integrated supply ship LLS (with a planned cost of 325 million euros, built as Vulcano at the Fincantieri shipyard in Riva Trigoso in Genoa) and two multi-purpose speedboats for special forces UNPAV (40 million euros, the construction was carried out by Intermarine). Contracts for the first six RRA ships and the LLS ship were awarded to Fincantieri with OCCAR's participation on May 7, 2015.
In fact, the command of the Italian Navy, after the approval of the Law on the Fleet, dragged through a significant increase in the size and cost of the warships planned for construction under this act. Thus, by the time the contract was issued, the Trieste UDC had "grown" from the 20,000 tons of full displacement and 180-190 meters long declared by the fleet during the discussion of the Law a year earlier to 33,000 tons of full displacement and 245 meters long, turning into a full-fledged aircraft carrier (referred to as a "multipurpose UDC") with the planned basing of F-35B fighters. UDC L 9890 Trieste was launched at the Fincantieri shipyard in Castellammare di Stabia near Naples on May 25, 2019 and went on trial on August 12, 2021, now its commissioning is expected in the summer of 2022.
A similar "evolution" was done by the RRA project, "increasing" in the "full" version from 4500 tons of full displacement and a length of 120 meters to a full displacement of 5800-6400 tons and a length of 143 meters (132.5 meters between perpendiculars), which made it comparable to Italian FREMM-type frigates (total displacement of 6900 tons and a length of 144 meters).
The RRA ship received a powerful combined diesel-gas turbine-electric installation, including two MTU 20V800 M91L diesel engines with a capacity of 13 thousand hp, an Avio Aero/GE Marine Solutions 32 LM2500+G4 afterburner gas turbine with a capacity of 43 thousand hp, four MAN GenSets 12V175D diesel generators with a capacity of 2200 hp and two electric motors with a capacity of for 2500 hp, the speed under diesels should reach 25 knots, and full - 33-35 knots. The cruising range will be 5,000 miles at 15 knots.
The radio-electronic armament of the "patrol ship" has also become very impressive, which should include in the "full" configuration a dual-band radar complex with AFAR (C and X bands) created by Leonardo, which provides, among other things, missile defense capabilities, and towed and submerged GAS. The ship's armament should include the SAAM-ESD anti-aircraft missile system with 16 Aster 30 or 64 SAMM-ESD missile launchers, eight Teseo/Otomat Mk 2A Evolutio anti-ship missiles, the 127 mm/64 Leonardo LW artillery complex with the Vulcano guided weapons system, the 76 mm/62 Leonardo Sovraponte artillery complex with the Strales/Davide guided weapons system, two Leonardo KBA 25-mm artillery units, six 324-mm and two 533-mm torpedo tubes, anti-torpedo protection systems. Two NH90 or one AW101 helicopters must be permanently based in the hangar. In the aft part of the ship there is a ramp with a fast-launching 11-meter semi-rigid motor boat, as well as two so-called modular zones with the possibility of placing there a total of 13 standard containers for reconfigurable payload. The crew in full configuration should number 173 people.
In total, to date, the Italian navy has already contracted Fincantieri seven RPA ships (the contract for the seventh was issued in June 2019), the total cost of which is already 3.9 billion euros. All of them are to be built at the shipyards in Mudgiano and Riva Trigoso with delivery from 2021 to 2026. At the same time, seven ships are divided into three groups according to configurations - two ships should be of the "Light" series, three - "Light Plus" and two - "Full" "Full".
The first two ships, the lead of which was the P 430 Paolo Thaon di Revel, were built in the "Light" series, having a total displacement of about 5830 tons. They are equipped with a "stripped-down" radar with an AFAR of only the X-band, a less functional SAM (using only Aster 30 missiles - according to some reports, there are actually no missiles on the lead ship), reduced electronic warfare and do not have towed GAS and 324-mm torpedo tubes. Light Plus ships with a full displacement of 5880 tons will have a C-band AFAR radar and a full-fledged SAAM-ESD medium-range air defense system, as well as 324-mm torpedo tubes. Finally, ships of the "full" configuration, the head of which should be commissioned in 2024, should have a full displacement, according to various sources, from 6270 to 6400 tons and receive the full set of fire and electronic means described above, including a dual-band radar system with AFAR (C and X bands) towed by GAS and Aster missiles 30 Block 1NT with anti-missile capabilities.
The second RRA ship in the P 431 Francesco Morosini series, under construction in the "Light" configuration, was laid down at the Fincantieri shipyard in Mudgiano on October 3, 2017 and launched on May 22, 2020. Now it is at the final stage of testing and is scheduled for delivery in May 2022. The third ship of the RRA type (the first in the "Light Plus" variant) P 432 Raimondo Montecuccoli was laid down on November 8, 2018 and launched on March 13, 2021, its commissioning is scheduled for 2023. The fourth ship (also in the "Light Plus" variant) P 433 Marcantonio Colonna was started construction on March 22, 2019, officially laid down on September 8, 2020 and launched on September 30, 2021. The fifth ship (the first in the "full" version of the "Full") P 434 Giovanni dalle Bande Nere was laid down on August 28, 2019 and launched on February 12, 2022. The sixth ship (Light Plus variant) P 435 Ruggiero di Lauria was laid down on April 7, 2021. The laying ceremony of the seventh unit (in the "Full" version) is scheduled for April 2022, the delivery of the seventh ship is expected in 2026.
In 2019, the Italian Navy also announced an option for three more ships of the RRA type (one each of the "Light", "Light Plus" and "full" versions), and the general plans for the construction of ships of this type in increasingly improving modifications extend to 16 units by 2035.
Image of the lead Italian "multipurpose patrol ship" P 430 Paolo Thaon di Revel of the new type Pattugliatore Polivalente d'altura (PPA), variant "Light" (c) laststandonzombieisland.com
