On September 24, 2024, in Genoa, at the Riva Trigoso shipbuilding enterprise of the Italian Fincantieri shipbuilding association, the ceremony of the first steel cutting and the start of construction of the lead patrol ship in a series of a new type for the Italian Navy under the OPV (Offshore Patrol Vessel) program took place. The transfer of the lead ship to the Italian Navy is scheduled for 2027.
The official image of the new patrol ship of the OPV program for the Italian Navy from the ceremony of the first steel cutting and the start of construction of the lead ship at the shipyard in Riva Trigoso in Genoa of the Italian shipbuilding association Fincantieri 09/24/2024 (c) Fincantieri
In July 2023, the joint venture Orizzonte Sistemi Navali (OSN), created by Fincantieri in partnership with Leonardo, signed a contract worth 925 million euros with the Italian General Secretariat of Defense and the National Armaments Directorate for the construction of three new generation patrol ships for the Italian Navy under the OPV program, with an option for three more units. In August 2024, the Italian Navy awarded OSN a contract worth 233 million euros for the construction of a fourth ship under an option, so four units have already been contracted. All ships will be built at the Fincantieri joint Riva Trigoso and Mudgiano shipyard. As part of the Italian fleet, the new patrol ships are to replace four Cassiopea-type patrol ships built in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The new patrol ships will have a standard displacement of 2,300 tons and a length of 95 m. The number of the crew will be 93 people. A special feature of the ships will be the use of an integrated bridge, which is also used on "patrol ships" (in fact, large frigates) of the RRA type being built for the Italian navy. The armament of the new patrol ships of the OPV program will include a 76-mm Leonardo Oto Super Rapid universal artillery system with a Strales guided weapons system, two 30-mm remotely controlled artillery units and an NH90-class helicopter.
The ceremony of the first steel cutting and the start of construction of the lead new patrol ship of the OPV program for the Italian Navy at the shipyard in Riva Trigoso in Genoa of the Italian shipbuilding association Fincantieri 09/24/2024 (c) Fincantieri
A render image of the new OPV patrol ship for the Italian Navy (c) Orizzonte Sistemi Navali (OSN)
