Fincantieri awarded contract for two PPA multi-purpose combat ships for Italian Navy

Italian Navy Thaon Di Revel (PPA)-class multi-purpose patrol ship Raimondo Montecuccoli (P 432) during Exercise ‘Rim of the Pacific' (RIMPAC) 2024. (US Navy)

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri has been awarded a EUR700 million (USD820.2 million) contract for two Thaon Di Revel (PPA)-class multi-purpose combat ships for the Italian Navy.

The two new PPAs (Pattugliatore Polivalente dʼAltura – multi-purpose offshore patrol vessel) are intended as replacements for two ships of the class that have been sold to Indonesia. The new ships are expected to be delivered in 2029 and 2030 respectively and will be delivered in the PPA ‘light plus' configuration. The PPAs will be built at Fincantieri's Integrated Shipyard in Riva Trigoso and Muggiano.

The PPA contract is managed by the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR), whose director, Joachim Sucker, signed Contract Amendment Number 9 for the PPA programme on behalf of Italy with the temporary consortium of Fincantieri and Leonardo, represented by vice-president of project management Fulvio Palermo and senior vice-president of naval systems Andrea Mattozzi respectively, on 25 June in Rome. In a press release, OCCAR said that the amendment “was approved to start construction and production of the two new PPAs for the Italian Navy” and “to increase the contractual provisions and to introduce several technical changes (ECPs [Engineering Change Proposals])”.

The PPAs have a displacement of 5,830–6,270 tonnes depending on configuration, a length of 143 m, a top speed of 32 kt, and a range of 5,000 n miles at 15 kt. Three different configurations were initially planned for Italy with ‘light' for patrol tasks, ‘light plus' for intermediate capabilities with some systems ‘fitted for but not with', and ‘full' for more complete combat capabilities.

The light plus configuration is