Italy’s 2014 state budget, approved in late December, contains a €5.8 billion funding package for the new vessels, mainly a new multipurpose ship conceived by Navy planners to fight wars as well as handle humanitarian relief operations.
The work will likely go to Italian shipyard Fincantieri.
Construction of the first vessel would take two years, with a launch in three, delivery in four and entry into service in five years.
The amphibious ship would replace one of three aging landing platform dock vessels and make good on a procurement plan for such a vessel that has been on standby for a number of years.
The Navt needs the new ships to be finalized as soon as possible, since 50 of the Navy’s 60 vessels will go out of service in the next decade.
The Navy received a large amount of funds for fleet renewal in the 1970s, it is no coincidence that many ships are heading out of service around the same time, making a second round of large investment essential.
The baseline design offers two cannons — a 127mm gun in the bow and a 76mm gun at the stern — along with a hangar for two NH90 helicopters, the option of carrying containers or small boats on deck, and a varying number of launch cells for the Aster 30 missile. Some of the vessels could mount the Scalp Naval missile, or the Tomahawk cruise missile.
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