Navy

With size and anti-sub capabilities in mind, Italy’s Navy rethinks ship designs

The Italian Navy is considering changing the design of some of its planned PPA multifunctional ships to make them smaller, and to possibly give them an anti-submarine capability, an Italian source has told Defense News.

The seven vessels were ordered as part of a €5.4 billion (U.S. $6.3 billion) package to replace a range of aging vessels in the Navy’s fleet. Three are already under construction by Italian shipyard Fincantieri, with preparations to build the fourth underway.

But planners may go back to the drawing board for the last three vessels, as mission priorities change, said the source, who has knowledge of the program’s developments.

Plans for the vessels were first drawn up when the Navy was run by Adm. Giuseppe de Giorgi, who opted to bring a sizable amount of design work in house, where service planners decided to build the PPA vessels large, reasoning that they would cover more missions.