13. December 2014

Fifth Italian FREMM ‘Alpino’ launched

Frigate Alpino was launched in Riva Trigoso shipyard on 13 December 2014, less than nine months after the previous similar event. With its motto di qui non si passa, it is the fourth warship in Italian Navy history to have the characteristic name of the famous Italian mountain infantry. It is, as well, the fourth and last FREMM in the Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) version, as all the remaining Italian FREMM frigates will be produced in the General Purpose (GP) version: with three already commissioned and the last two, in option, whose construction could be confirmed before April 2015.

The ceremony was attended by several political, military, religious and civil authorities. Among them Senator Nicola Latorre, Chairman of the 4^ Senate's Defence Committee, Admiral Luigi Binelli Mantelli, Italian Chief of Defence, Lieutenant General Claudio Graziano, Italian Army Chief of Staff, Admiral Giuseppe De Giorgi, Italian Navy Chief of Staff, Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri and OCCAR Director Tim Rowntree. Senator Latorre underlined the importance of the naval industry in Italy, and both Mr. Bono and Adm. De Giorgi thanked OCCAR for its strong commitment in delivering cost effective armament equipment.
The Godmother was Ms. Maria Rosa Solimano, cousin of Francesco Solimano, who was awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor for the heroism shown during the Second World War.

Alpino will be ready for its first sea going at the end of April 2015 and could, according to current plans, be delivered in December 2015, two months ahead of the contractual schedule. 
As for the other Italian FREMM ships, the “Carlo Bergamini”, the First Of Class (FOC) in GP version, is soon to finish its end of warranty works period and will leave the place to the “Virginio Fasan”, the FOC ASW, which spent this year on operational activity. In two months also “Carlo Margottini” (the third Italian FREMM) will stop in La Spezia shipyard after an intense operational period. “Carabiniere” (the fourth one) is already there for its final testing activities, so in the first part of 2015 all the ASW frigates will be in the same place.