Today at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Muggiano there was the ceremony to
celebrate the cutting of the first sheeting – marking the start-up of
construction of the first of the second pair of class U212A “Todaro”
submarines, ordered by the Central Unit for Naval Armament – NAVARM for
the Italian Navy. Scheduled for delivery in 2015 and 2016 the Navy has
earmarked these vessels to replace the “Prini” and the “Pelosi”
submarines (“Sauro” classe– third series), built at the end of the
1980s.
Present at the ceremony were, beside Fincantieri’s representative, Admiral Dino Nascetti, General Director of NAVARM.
Construction of the two submarines is the continuation of a program
which started in 1994 in cooperation with the German Submarine
Consortium, which led to two submarines being built for Italy – the
“Todaro” and the “Scirè”, delivered by Fincantieri in 2006 and 2007
respectively – and four submarines for Germany.
At an overall length of 56 metres, the vessels will have a surface
displacement of 1,450 tons and a maximum diameter of 7 metres and be
able to reach a submerged speed of 20 knots with a crew of 24. As the
other submarines in the series, this new submarine will feature highly
innovative technological solutions and will be entirely built employing
amagnetic materials, applying the latest silencing devices in order to
reduce its acoustic signature. The vessel will be equipped with a
silent propulsion system based on fuel cell technology, producing
energy through an oxygen-hydrogen reaction independently from external
oxygen, ensuring a submerged range three to four times higher than the
conventional battery-based systems. It will also feature a fully
integrated electro-acoustic and weapon-control system, and a modern
platform automation system.
The first two submarines of this type delivered by Fincantieri are
already successfully at work within the fleet of the Italian Navy.
Indeed, on the first December the “Scirè" returned to Taranto having
participated in CONUS ’09 - an intense naval campaign in the Atlantic
with the US Navy while in the summer the “Todaro” was also engaged in a
similar mission within the framework of NATO manoeuvres. This submarine
is at present anchored at Fincantieri’s Muggiano yard for scheduled
maintenance to be carried out by Fincantieri which has recently also
been tasked with managing the vessel’s life support program.
Commenting, Fincantieri’s Chief Executive Officer, Giuseppe Bono, said:
“Continuation of this program with the Navy benefits both our national
defence and our industry. These submarines constitute state-of the-art
for the sector, our country cannot not afford to lose the know-how
needed to work in such a high tech field.” (More)