At the Muggiano shipyard (La Spezia) production activity began today for the second of the two new generation submarines related to the U212NFS (Near Future Submarine) acquisition program of the Italian Navy.
The programme, which includes two vessels contracted in 2021, with deliveries expected in 2027 and 2029, as well as a third vessel which has received parliamentary approval and the related service support and construction of the Training Center, is managed by OCCAR ( Organization Conjointe de Coopération en matière d'Armement, the international organization for armaments cooperation).
The ceremony was attended, among others, by Gen. Joachim Sucker, director of OCCAR and adm. insp. c. Giuseppe Abbamonte, director of the Naval Armaments Directorate – NAVARM, welcomed by the president and managing director of Fincantieri, gen. Graziano and Pierroberto Folgiero, together with the general manager of Military Ships Division of the Dario Deste Group.
The U212NFS submarines will be highly innovative, with significant design changes all developed independently by Fincantieri in accordance with the Navy's requirements. The program responds to the need to ensure adequate underwater surveillance and control capabilities, considering the complex operational scenarios that will characterize the future of operations in the underwater sector and the approaching end of the operational life of the 4 "Sauro" class units currently in service. It also serves to preserve and increase the strategic and innovative industrial know-how gained by Fincantieri and to consolidate the technological advantage achieved by the company and the supply chain, major industrial realities and small and medium-sized enterprises in the sector, because the presence on board of components will be enhanced developed by domestic industry.
The tasks that submarines perform daily in favor of the community are many, satisfying the protection of national interests and collective defense in the context of the most important alliances in which the country participates, NATO and the EU: to the purely military missions are added those concerning freedom of navigation, anti-piracy, the safety of energy supply and data flow routes (by virtue of the seabed resources and underwater infrastructures present), compliance with international law, the fight against terrorism, the protection of external borders , the safeguarding of maritime infrastructures, including vital off-shore and underwater ones, and not least the safeguarding of marine ecosystems.
