08. November 2018

Keel Laying Ceremony for the third PPA Vessel

The Keel Laying ceremony of the 3rd Multipurpose Patrol Ship (PPA) took place on November 8th, at the Fincantieri shipyard in Riva Trigoso (Genova). The ceremony shows the official availability of the First Hull Block. This ship, the first in the “light plus” configuration, is in line with the industrial scheduled timing and will be launched at the end of 2020.

PPA is a Multipurpose Patrol Ship with “dual use” features, that enables it to accomplish military tasks and, with the same platform, to support non-combat operations such as Disaster Reliefs and Humanitarian Assistance.

Based on a common platform, PPA will be built in 3 different configurations: light (2 ships), light plus (3 ships) and full (2 ships).

The PPA Programme Manager Mr. Pasquale de Candia (on the right) and the Shipyard Production Manager Mr. Chisari (on the left) installing a bronze plate on the first hull block. © OCCAR

The LIGHT version has a complete set of artillery and is developed with the “fitted for” approach that makes it able to quickly deploy growing operational capabilities.

The LIGHT+ version adds the missile firing capability with actuators planned also for ballistic missile defence.
The FULL version will be able to operate in every naval warfare domain, such as: AAW, ASW and ASuW.
The PPA programme foresees the building of 10 ships (7 + 3 optional).