First Steel Cutting Ceremony for the Fifth Italian Navy Multipurpose Patrol Ship (PPA).

The First Steel Cutting ceremony for the Fifth Multipurpose Patrol Ship (PPA) took place on the 25th June at Riva Trigoso Shipyard (Genova). The steel cutting ceremony is a very meaningful milestone, as it marks the first tangible step of the building process and constitutes the virtual birth of a new ship.
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3D render of a PPA, offshore multipurpose patrol frigate, Italian Navy. (Picture source: OCCAR)

The steel cutting ceremony is a very meaningful milestone, as it marks the first tangible step of the building process and constitutes the virtual birth of a new ship.

In accordance with the Government Guidance to reduce the risk of Covid-19 spreading, the ceremony took place in the presence of a handful number of guests. During the ceremony, Mr Pasquale de Candia, OCCAR PPA Programme Manager, together with Engineer Stefano Saione of FINCANTIERI, pressed the start button of the laser cutter.

PPA5 will be the second ship in “LIGHT PLUS” configuration, fitted with a complete set of artillery as well as a missile-firing capability with actuators for ballistic missile defence too. LIGHT and LIGHT PLUS versions have been developed with the “fitted for” approach: every system on the FULL can quickly be deployed also on LIGHT and LIGHT PLUS, facilitating operational flexibility and growing capabilities during the Ships life.

PPA 5 First Steel Cutting has taken place 4 months in advance on contract schedule. The ship is planned to be delivered to the Italian Navy in October 2024.

Mr. Pasquale de Candia (OCCAR PPA Programme Manager) and Eng. Stefano Saione (Fincantieri). (Picture source: OCCAR)

About the PPA Program:

The PPA Programme is an innovative Multipurpose Patrol Ship Programme for Italy. PPA characteristics meet the Italian concept of “Multi-Purpose by Design”, a model, shared with the NATO Community, that will allow these ships to be able to cope with dynamic and complex scenarios, as well as to carry out many profiles of operations.

These units, fully interoperable with NATO and EU partners, will be more versatile than the present generation of ships, benefiting from extensive use of the modularity concept. They are conceived, since the beginning of the design phase, with enhanced “dual-use” features, fit for all military tasks and able to intervene also during peacetime, supporting Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Assistance Operations.

The PPA will have a smaller environmental footprint, by further reducing the polluting emissions, also by adopting new generation biofuel and electric propulsion. Some characteristics deserve a special mention: high flexibility and level of innovation, very high speed, long-endurance, resilience and seaworthiness, manoeuvrability, modularity, high level of integration and automation, in other words, better suited to face the challenges of the 21st century. PPAs will be able to be rapidly deployed at long distances in a broad spectrum of emergency situations, becoming the backbone of the Italian Navy.

Laser Cutter. (Picture source: OCCAR)