Space and underwater they are increasingly places of widespread conflict. The incomplete knowledge and the difficulties of geographically mapping space and the sea depths increase competition between states and cause increasingly widespread phenomena of "commercialization" and consequent politicization and militarization of these spaces.
The sabotage of the submarine cables a few days ago, linked to the - broader - dynamics of the Red Sea crisis, with the problems it caused, is an example of how much importance matters todayunderwater also in infrastructural terms. But already the sabotage of the gas pipeline North Stream 2 it was a first sign of the importance assumed by the protection of large underwater energy and technological infrastructures.
In times of geopolitical instability, protecting one's underwater infrastructure becomes as essential as guaranteeing freedom of navigation on the surface. The centrality of the submarine dimension - which as a "global common", exactly like surface waters, is complex to control and is subject to an underlying competitive anarchy - has often been highlighted by Admiral Enrico Credendino, chief of staff of the Navy, but also by a significant part of analysts, academia and the AD&S industry.
Admiral Credendino defined that submarine as the "the new, true, fifth physical dimension”, based on physical laws different from the surface of the sea and which requires the development of new technologies and strategies to be controlled.
And if theunderwater becomes - or returns, depending on interpretations - a priority in the Italian geostrategic posture, it is clear that the sector industry must and wants to keep up. It is no coincidence that the CEO of Fincantieri, Pierroberto Folgiero, turned the spotlight on the topic. Among the most important initiatives carried out by the Trieste shipbuilding giant are the acquisition of Remazel, a company specializing in top side equipment for submarines, joining the National underwater dimension hub, the role in the program Near future submarine of the Navy and the memorandums with Leonardo for the development of systems for the protection of underwater infrastructures, CABI Cattaneo and, in the civil sphere, WSense.
Therefore, the insistence with which in recent days we speak - also in consideration of the renewed spirit of collaboration with Leonardo - of Fincantieri's interest in WASS (Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquei), the company specializing in underwater armaments, is not far-fetched. Defense Systems Division of Piazza Monte Grappa. WASS currently produces torpedoes, launch systems, anti-torpedo countermeasure systems for both ships and submarines and sonar.
The passage of WASS from Leonardo to Fincantieri would, after all, be an intelligent corporate strategy, to be included as part of an optimal distribution of skills between companies in the Defense sector.
In a nutshell, the sky and the earth to Leonardo and the sea to Fincantieri. The sector of weapons and surface naval weapon systems would be excluded from the discussion, which would remain in the hands of Leonardo, with OTO Melara.
The announcement of a forthcoming acquisition of an armaments company by Fincantieri has pushed WASS to the top of the "possibilities" and seems to be the most attractive reality for the core business of the Trieste company.
Something to take into account: even in Italy there is some insistence on the development of underwater drones (UUV) to protect strategic underwater infrastructures with greater capillarity and with lower costs. The discussion on the topic is open and heralds interesting developments in terms of "dual use" and security.
