Italian Navy’s sixth FREMM frigate launched

The Italian Navy’s sixth Frégate Européen multi-mission (FREMM) vessel, Luigi Rizzo, has been launched at the Riva Trigoso shipyard, near Genoa, Italy. Designe to support anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and anti-air warfare missions, the vessel is being built by Orizzonte Sistemi Navali and it is scheduled to be delivered in early 2017.
The contract is within the framework of an Italo-French cooperation programme under the coordination of Organisation Conjointe de Cooperation sur l’Armement, the international organisation for cooperation on arms (OCCAR). The FREMM multi-mission ship programme has been established in late 2002: the contract involves the construction of ten vessels for the Italian Navy to replace the ageing Fincantieri-built Lupo and Maestrale-class ships by 2021, while 11 frigates will also be built for the French Navy.
Orizzonte Sistemi Navali and Armaris, a joint venture between DCNS and Thales, are the prime contractors for Italy and France respectively under the programme. Fincantieri owns a 51% stake in Orizzonte Sistemi Navali while the remaining 49% stake is held by Finmeccanica.
Capable of cruising at a speed of over 27k and accommodating a crew up to 200, the 144m-long and 19.7m-wide ship has a full load displacement of about 6,700t. The Italian FREMM vessels will feature the SAAM Aster 15 missile system, Teseo Mk2 sea-skimming anti-ship missiles and MBDA’s Milas all-weather weapon system.