On July 26, 2024, the Office of Naval Armaments of the General Secretariat of Defense of Italy and the National Armaments Administration of Italy signed a contract with the Italian companies Intermarine (as part of the IMMSI Group) and Leonardo for the construction of five promising new generation mine warfare ships for the Italian Navy under the New Generation Minehunter-Coastal program (Cacciamine Nuova Generazione-Costieri - CNG-C). The total value of the contract is 1.6 billion euros, including the supply of appropriate equipment and weapons and long-term comprehensive service support. The option for the contract is 1 billion euros, which apparently implies the possibility of building three more ships.
Design image of a promising mine-fighting ship for the Italian Navy under the New Generation Minehunter-Coastal program (Cacciamine Nuova Generazione-Costieri - CNG-C) (c) Intermarine
The 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 five ships ordered now should be carried out at the Intermarine shipbuilding enterprise in Sarzana near La Spezia, 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 the share of Leonardo, which will act as a supplier for these ships of the integrated automated combat control and mine action control system SADOC 4 and new generation electronic and mine warfare systems.
The new Italian mine-fighting ships CNG-C in the spirit of the latest trends will be very large units with a total displacement of about 1300 tons, serving as carriers of various remotely controlled and autonomous surface and underwater platforms and devices for complex detection and destruction of mines. 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, driven by two Fort Schneider wing thrusters and with two additional thrusters. The full speed is stated at 13 knots. The ship's crew will be 50 people. The ship will have a helipad (apparently for the use of UAVs) and will be equipped with four remotely controlled artillery and machine gun installations.
A model of a promising mine-fighting ship for the Italian Navy under the New Generation Minehunter-Coastal program (Cacciamine Nuova Generazione-Costieri - CNG-C) at the Intermarine exposition at the DIMDEX-2024 defense exhibition in Doha (Qatar), March 2024 (c) www.navalnews.com
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