Fincantieri, all the States that want the Fremm
Not only Indonesia and Greece are looking to Fincantieri's Fremm. Also from Canada and Morocco… All the details
The list of countries interested in Fincantieri's Fremm is getting longer.
After the contract signed on 10 June with Indonesia for the supply of 6 Fremm class frigates, the modernization and sale of 2 Maestrale class frigates, the Trieste shipbuilding group is on the final list to win a new order also in Greece.
Between orders and options, the Fincantieri project brought 30 ships to the market for various foreign navies in addition to the national one.
Yes, because in addition to the Indonesian order, there is a contract with the US Navy for the supply of 10 missile-launching frigates – of which 8 still in option – and the 2 Fremms sold to Egypt (plus 2 optional) . Without forgetting the 10 units – of which 8 in service plus 2 under construction to replace those sold to Egypt – for the Italian Navy.
But for the frigates of the group led by Giuseppe Bono there could be new orders on the horizon.
As Pietro Batacchi, director of Rid pointed out, “Morocco, which, let us remember, has a French Fremm in service, would like to buy 2 more units, but this time in an Italian (antisom) configuration. The interest is concrete and discussions with Fincantieri are underway ”.
"But Canada also thought about Fremm – on the wave of victory in the race for the US Navy – and asked Fincantieri for more information," added Batacchi.
All the details.
THE ORDER IN INDONESIA
At the beginning of June, Fincantieri and the Indonesian Ministry of Defense signed a contract for the supply of 6 Fremm class frigates, the modernization and sale of 2 Maestrale class frigates, and the related logistical support.
Although Fincantieri has not provided financial details, the value of the maxi-contract is estimated at 4 billion.
FINCANTIERI WITH FREMMS IN THE GREECE SHORT LIST
Also this month , the Greek Ministry of Defense selected six countries to evaluate proposals for the acquisition of four new frigates for the Hellenic Navy.
In the short list there are: the Dutch Damen with Sigma 11515; the French Naval Group with Belharra HN; the German Tkms with MEKO A200NG; the English Babcock with Arrowhead; the American Lockheed Martin with the Multi-Mission Surface Combatant (Mmsc) and the Italian Fincantieri with the Fremm.
According to Banca Akros, the contract for the frigates is worth 2 billion euros, as reported by MF / Milano Finanza . Furthermore, for Banca Akros, the Greek tender is important for Fincantieri: “the company builds both the Freem class of frigates and the MMSCs offered by Lockheed Martin”.
THE FINCANTIERI FREMM PROGRAM
Between orders and options, at the moment there are 20 Fremm for international navies in addition to 10 for the Italian Navy.
The Fremm frigates were commissioned to Fincantieri by the Italian Navy as part of the Italian-French cooperation program under the coordination of Occar, the international organization for cooperation in the field of arms.
In addition to 6 for Indonesia, Fincantieri will build two “Constellation” class frigates for the US Navy. The "Constellation" program was awarded in 2020 to Fincantieri Marinette Marine (Fmm), with a contract for the first frigate with the option for 9 additional ships, in addition to after-sales support and crew training, of the total value for Fincantieri of approximately 5.5 billion dollars. As part of the program, the US Navy plans to build an additional 10 units, for a total of 20.
Just last month the US Department of Defense announced that the US Navy will exercise the option, worth about $ 555 million, which awards FMM the construction of the second frigate of the “Constellation” class.
Then there is the question of the sale to the Egyptian navy. Two Fremm frigates, built by Fincantieri, initially intended for the Italian Navy, were sold “discounted” to Egypt. ( Here the in-depth analysis by Start on how much Egypt paid for Fincantieri's Fremm ). The contract with Egypt is expected to include options for two additional newly built frigates, as the program covered four platforms, according to industry sources. Furthermore, Batacchi on Rid reports that the “2 Egyptian options are in antisom variant”.
THE INTEREST OF MOROCCO
After that, there is the interest of Morocco, which – as mentioned by Batacchi – has a French Fremm in service, “and would like to buy 2 more units, but this time in an Italian (antisom) configuration”.
AND THAT OF CANADA FOR THE FREMM OF FINCANTIERI
Finally, Canada is also targeting the frigates of the Italian shipbuilding group.
“In short, in Ottawa they are looking around after a steep increase in the costs of the Global Combat Ship program, based on the design of the British Type 26. Parliament is not at all happy, and does not want a bloodbath for the Canadian taxpayer. At Bae Systems there is great concern ”, reads Rid .
THE COSTS OF THE CSC PROJECT
In fact, last February, the Ottawa parliamentary budget office completed a new estimate of the cost of the future series of Royal Canadian Navy frigates.
The total cost rises to about $ 62 billion for 15 hulls, about $ 14 billion more than the service's most recent public estimate and about three times the estimate in 2015.
Parliamentary Budget Director Yves Giroux delivered the long-awaited new estimate for the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) along with a number of alternative scenarios. If Canada abandoned its British Type 26 project from Bae Systems Maritime altogether and built a warship based on Fincantieri's Fremm frigate, the unit cost would remain roughly 4 billion each, but production timeline would likely be postponed by about four years.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/fincantieri-tutti-gli-stati-che-vogliono-le-fremm/ on Mon, 28 Jun 2021 13:26:49 +0000.