On January 25th 2020 took place the launching ceremony of the Italian FREMM Emilio Bianchi at the FINCANTIERI integrated shipyard in Riva Trigoso.

The PPA Programme integrated the first two X-Band fixed sensor arrays (faces) of the new Dual Band Radar (DBR) X/C at the test bed in Pratica di Mare airfield in time for the Christmas festivities.

On the 15th November 2019, the OCCAR Director visited the ITS Spartaco SCHERGAT, the ninth Italian FREMM (out of ten ships under contract). The outfitting of the frigate is being concluded at the Fincantieri Muggiano shipyard in La Spezia.  The aim is to deliver her to the Italian Navy in March 2020, fully on schedule and ready to be integrated with the rest of the fleet.

PPA1, named after “Paolo Thaon di Revel”, sailed its first nautical miles in the blue waters of the Gulf of La Spezia on 12th Nov 2019.