La Spezia/Italy 15, April 2025 – OCCAR has delivered the 9th Italian FREMM frigate the “Spartaco Schergat” to the Italian Navy.
The ceremony at the Muggiano shipyard (La Spezia) was attended by the OCCAR-EA Director, Mr. Joachim Sucker, the Italian Programme Committee Representative Vice Admiral Giuseppe Abbamonte, Director of the Italian Naval Directorate, the French Programme Committee Representative General Francois Watteau, the Vice Admiral Vincenzo Montanaro, Commander of the IT Navy Southern Maritime Interregional Command and Chairman of the Q&A Committee. Industry was represented by the CEO of Orizzonte Sistemi Navali and senior managers from Fincantieri and Leonardo.
The Italian Ship (ITS) Spartaco Schergat is the 9th and final FREMM frigate delivered to the Italian Navy and the first in the “Anti-Submarine-Warfare-enhanced” version.
Currently 17 out of 20 FREMM frigates have been delivered; nine to Italy (out of twelve) and eight to France (out of eight). The tenth and second “ASW-enhanced” Italian FREMM “Bianchi” will be delivered by July 2025. Two additional Italian FREMMs in the “EVO-lution” version, ordered with the last FREMM contract amendment signed in July 2024, will be delivered in 2029 and 2030. All IT FREMMs delivered so far are currently managed by OCCAR in their “In Service Support (ISS)” phase.
Thanks to the excellent relationship established with industry and the Italian Navy throughout the HORIZON-FREMM Programme Division, the delivery is on schedule. As a result, the ship will be immediately deployed by the Navy in naval operations immediately after the crew training period.
The FREMM Programme has a proven track record in managing major defence programmes. The key to this success is the close cooperation between Italy and France. This cooperation has been instrumental in fostering the desire to expand the partnership in the future where, cooperative programmes managed by OCCAR will be essential for the development of sophisticated and high-performance systems, taking into account both technical and financial considerations.
The ITS Schergat, is named after the highly decorated Italian military frogman who was part of a team of six attending the deed in the port of Alexandria in December 1941 using a secret manned “torpedo”.
