The Italian Navy is considering changing the initial design of some of its new multifunctional PPA ships, to make them smaller, and possibly give them an anti-submarine capability, according to Defense News.
The seven ships were ordered under the Naval Law, valued at € 5,4 billion (US $ 6,3 billion) to replace disused ships of the Navy fleet. Three are already under construction at the Italian shipyards of Fincantieri, work on the fourth is about to begin.
But the engineers of the Navy General Staff will return to the drawing board for the last three ships, as operational priorities stemming from national commitments have changed.
The planning and design of the PPPs were drafted by the previous Chief of Staff Admiral Giuseppe De Giorgi, when the international context and national commitments were extended to the use of PPPs in various operational missions in all scenarios.
Today, the new PPAs weigh around 6.000 tons, just below the FREMM frigates which weigh 6.700 tons, but much larger than the ships they will replace which are close to 2000 tons.
The PPA ships also have the same length as the FREMM, measure about 146 meters in length and 16,5 meters in width, only 3 meters narrower than the FREMM.
According to the initial project, the PPAs would be too large to dock in some Sicilian ports, thus affecting their capacity and use in monitoring the migratory flows taking place in the Mediterranean.
Then the new head of the Navy, Admiral Valter Girardelli, approved the program to transform the last three PPAs into 3.000-ton patrol vessels. Insiders are also evaluating the need to equip them with anti-submarine capabilities, as eight anti-som ships have completed their operational lifecycle. The need arose because there are currently only four FREMM frigates with anti-somm configuration.
A second option would be to transform the last three PPAs into full-fledged anti-submarine vessels with a tonnage of 4.500 tons. According to the source overheard by Defense News, by making the PPAs smaller, the four ships would be purchased with the same funding as the three largest PPAs.
It is clear that the Navy, rightly, with the same resources already programmed, has decided to review the design of the new fleet to reconcile operational needs with national ones, giving an example of knowing how to better manage the resources that the government and the Italians have allocated. to the Armed Force of the Sea.