OCCAR awards $4.2B DDX destroyer contract to Fincantieri, Leonardo joint venture

BELFAST — Europe’s Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) has issued a €3.7 billion ($4.2 billion) contract for the production of two Italian Navy DDX destroyers to the Orizzonte Sistemi Navali (OSN) joint venture, made up of local firms Fincantieri and Leonardo. 

“The DDX programme is set to redefine the Italian Navy’s capability profile in the field of air and missile defence through a significant generational leap” at both a platform and combat systems level, said the two manufacturers in a joint statement today.

It added that the program will see OSN cement sub-supply contracts with Fincantieri, valued at around €1.8 billion, and Leonardo, worth an estimated €1.7 billion, “in the coming weeks.” Roughly €1.3 billion of the entire contract is based on options.

Deliveries of the two ships, set to replace a pair of Durand de la Penne-class destroyers, are planned for 2033 and 2035 — a delay from Rome’s reported original plans. When Italy first unveiled new destroyer plans in 2020, it reportedly committed to a 2028 delivery timeline.

A construction contract was purportedly penciled in for 2023, dependent on funding, but according to Italian outlet Infodifesa, problems “likely linked” to defining operational requirements and financial resources, led to the project suffering a three-year delay.

The Italian Ministry of Defense did not respond to a request for comment at press time.

Shipbuilder Fincantieri is responsible for the design and build of the new destroyer, with Leonardo supporting combat system development.

The DDX measures 180 meters (590.5 feet) long and features a 13,500-tonne (14,881.2-ton) displacement, in addition to a range in excess of 4,000 nautical miles, according to the joint statement.

The statement added that the surface ship will provide an “unprecedented” integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) “capability against missile, ballistic and hypersonic threats” courtesy of a SADOC 5 C5I system, a digital S-band AESA radar and MBDA-made weapons.

In line with a first quarter financial results and a business outlook update, Fincantieri indicated in May that it expected to seal near-term orders worth around €5 billion, including the DDX deal. The shipbuilder noted then that two units from the Italian Navy’s Joint Maritime Mission System (J3MS) program would be contracted within months.

Beyond domestic business, the firm “plans to finalize major contracts with several foreign navies both for the supply of surface vessels, including FREMM frigates, and for the provision of services in the Middle East and other key geographic areas,” reads the Q1 summary.

Italian electronics specialist ELT Group said in a related statement today that it will equip the DDX vessels with a “next-generation electronic warfare suite designed to enhance the protection of both the platform and the entire naval force in increasingly complex, multi-domain operational scenarios.”