Italian defence budget funds future destroyer development
The future DDX destroyers will replace Italy's Durand de la Penne-class vessels. (Photo: USN.)
In its 2021-2023 multi-year defence planning document, Italy has committed funding to develop its DDX future destroyer, along with various other naval programmes.
The latest Documento Programmatico Pluriennale (DPP) multi-year defence planning document from the Italian MoD sheds some interesting light on naval procurement plans until 2023.
In all, the DPP detailed 85 new armed forces programmes to begin in the 2021-2023 timeframe, plus 155 projects already underway.
Italy counts DDX as one of seven flagship programmes over the period that will enjoy guaranteed funding. The previous DDP (for 2020-2022) launched a de-risking study for the development of two DDX destroyers.
The future destroyers will replace the two Durand de la Penne-class destroyers from 2028. Shephard Defence Insight notes that initial configuration details suggest
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