Italy orders up to four more submarines via OCCAR
New boats will be ‘the sole undeniable asset’ for the Italian Navy in the submarine domain, says MoD
The Italian MoD is buying up to four Type U212 Near Future Submarines (NFS) from Fincantieri through the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR), according to a notice published on 9 December on the official EU tenders database.
Procurement of an initial two boats, with the option for two more plus related technical, logistical and training services, will cost up to €1.35 billion ($1.63 billion).
The Italian Navy already operates four Type U212A Salvatore Todaro-class diesel-electric attack submarines, which were ordered in two batches with the final boat being commissioned in May 2017. Shephard Defence Insight gives an out-of-service date of 2032 for these boats.
The new Type U212 NFS submarines will be ‘the sole undeniable asset that the Italian Navy needs to satisfy its operational requirements in the submarine domain’, the MoD claimed.
‘In Europe only TKMS [ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems] and Fincantieri have the technical know-how for the development and production of U212A submarines,’ it added. ‘Therefore the contract can be awarded to Fincantieri... using the negotiated procedure.’
The design of the NFS boats will be based on the Type U212A, although the MoD did not specify any differences in its announcement.
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