ROME — Italy has ordered two more FREMM frigates, completing its planned order of 10 vessels, the Italian consortium building the ships said on Thursday.
The value of the order was €764 million (US $812.2 million), euros,said according to Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, S.p.A., a joint venture in which Italian shipyard Fincantieri holds 51 percent and Finmeccanica holds 49 percent.
The program, which was launched with France, has been is run by European program office OCCAR.
The new ships, which will be delivered after 2020, are 144 meters long with a 6,700-ton displacement, accommodation for a crew of 200 and a maximum speed of over more than 27 knots.
"The Italian and French program for the new FREMM [multipurpose] European multimission frigates is the most important European military naval program ever implemented," said Finmeccanica CEO Mauro Moretti.
Email: tkington@defensenews.com
Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.
