The first steel cutting ceremony of the second U212 Near Future Submarine (NFS) ordered by OCCAR to Fincantieri, the largest shipbuilding company in Europe, took place on 6 June 2023 at Fincantieri’s Muggiano shipyard, in La Spezia in the presence of Vice Admiral Abbamonte, the Italian Director for Naval Armament and Programme Committee Representative, and OCCAR Director Mr. Joachim Sucker.
This highly symbolic and momentous event represents the first tangible step of the construction and entry into production of the second Italian NFS, which is expected to be delivered to the Italian Navy in 2029.
The Italian U212 NFS Programme is managed by OCCAR on behalf of the Directorate of Naval Armament. NFS comprises the development and the production of four boats along with In-Service Support. Moreover, the NFS Programme includes the development of Li-Ion Battery System and the development and production of a training center.
The Programme, managed by the U212 NFS Programme Division based in Rome and La Spezia, stems from the requirement to secure adequate underwater spatial surveillance and control capacity and considers the future complex scenarios of underwater operations.
The U212 NFS Programme will carry out a plethora of tasks in line with the national interest of the Republic of Italy, as well as responding to requests from the Italian Government and/or Alliance partners, namely, NATO and the EU.
U212 NFS tasks will range from purely military missions to operations pertaining to freedom of navigation, anti-piracy, ensuring that energy supply routes remain safe (due to the presence of seabed resources or underwater infrastructure), law enforcement, combatting terrorism, defending external borders, and safeguarding maritime infrastructure, including essential off-shore and underwater infrastructure.