A Sirio-class patrol vessel, an enduring warship in the Italian Navy that has been in service since 2003. This class, along with other ageing patrol vessels, will be replaced with new OPVs. Credit: Fincantieri.

The steel cutting ceremony for the first Italian Navy Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) took place on 24 September 2024, at Fincantieri’s Riva Trigoso shipyard in Genoa.

The value of the first four units – contracted by Orizzonte Sistemi Navali (OSN), a joint venture owned by Fincantieri (51%) and Leonardo (49%) – is approximately €1.2bn ($1.3bn), including the related logistical support.

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This programme envisages the construction of four vessels, with an option for additional two, with the first delivery scheduled for 2027. 

It is worth noting that the service had originally ordered three units but called for another at the start of August 2024. Prior to this, the original order placed in June 2023 included infrastructure upgrades required to house the ships at naval bases in Augusta, Cagliari and Messina.

These four new OPVs will replace numerous warships still in service; some, such as the Lerici-class minehunters, have been in use for nearly 40 years, according to GlobalData intelligence.

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The OPV programme responds to the need to ensure adequate capabilities for presence and surveillance, maritime patrolling, merchant traffic control, protection of lines of communication and the exclusive economic zone, as well as operations to protect against threats derived from marine pollution, such as toxic liquid spills.

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With a length of about 95 metres long, a displacement of 2,400 tonnes and the capacity to accommodate 97 crew members on board, these new patrol vessels will be marked by a package of technological solutions, as well as standards of excellence in automation and manoeuvrability, that will make them suitable for operating in a wide range of tactical scenarios and weather conditions.

Italy is also pursuing the PPA, seven of which will be in service by 2026, and the pan-European Multi Modular Patrol Corvette, within which Italy serves as a project coordinator.

Among the most innovative features of the OPV is the naval cockpit, though this concept was initially developed for the PPAs. It is an integrated workstation, co-produced by Leonardo and Fincantieri NexTech, that allows the conduct of the ship and airborne operations by just two operators, the pilot and co-pilot, who have incorporated the figures of the bridge watch officer and the captain.

Indeed, from this station, located in the command bridge, it is possible to manage the machines, rudders and platform systems and some functions of the combat system.