La Spezia/Italy 30, July 2025 – OCCAR has officially delivered the 10th Italian FREMM frigate, the “Emilio Bianchi” to the Italian Navy. The ceremony at the Muggiano shipyard (La Spezia) was attended by the OCCAR Director, Mr. Joachim Sucker, the Italian Programme Committee Representative Vice Admiral Giuseppe Abbamonte, Director of the Italian Naval Directorate, the Vice Admiral Giuseppe Berutti Bergotto, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Italian Navy, the Admiral Flavio Biaggi, Commander of the IT Navy Northern Maritime Interregional Command and Chairman of the Q&A Committee. Industry was represented by the CEO of Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, Eng. Giovanni Sorrentino, and senior managers from Fincantieri and Leonardo.
The ITS Emilio Bianchi marks a historic milestone as it is the last “Legacy” FREMM frigate delivered to the Italian Navy, and the second unit featuring the “Anti-Submarine-Warfare-enhanced” version. With this delivery, OCCAR completes the original FREMM programme phase, under which Italy has now received all ten FREMM ships.
The completion of the FREMM Legacy phase is a testament to the commitment and excellence of the entire FREMM Franco-Italian cooperative programme community, and demonstrates the effectiveness of multinational collaboration in providing state-of-the-art defence solutions. In fact, The FREMM Programme has been recognised as one of the most successful examples of European defence cooperation, managed through OCCAR’s HORIZON-FREMM Programme Division.
The delivery of the ITS Bianchi was achieved three months ahead of schedule, and only two months after the delivery of ITS Schergat: a result of the effective collaboration between OCCAR, Italian governmental representatives and industry. Following a brief training period for the crew, the frigate will be deployed on operational maritime missions.
The Navy has chosen to name this ship Emilio Bianchi, a name which carries great prestige. Emilio Bianchi was a member of the elite Decima Flottiglia MAS and a highly decorated petty officer. Bianchi's actions during the Second World War were recognised with the prestigious Gold Medal of Military Valour, Italy's highest military decoration.
To date, 18 FREMM frigates have been delivered under the programme—ten to Italy and eight to France.
Looking to the future, two additional FREMM frigates in the new “EVO-lution” configuration are scheduled to be delivered to the Italian Navy in 2029 and 2030, under the contract amendment signed in July 2024. These units are designed to deal with new and increasingly insidious threats in the various theatres of operation where naval ships will be deployed