Covert Shores – Italy’s elite naval special forces, COMSUBIN (aka Incursori / GOI), is extremely secretive. And their swimmer delivery vehicles (SDVs) and submarines are among their best kept secrets. Only now, after it has been retired, has the BIR-87 been displayed to the public. 

(Thanks to Alain)

Naval News – Among the new programmes which are launched to achieve these goals in the changing worldwide geostrategic scenarios, the DPP 2023-25 highlights increasing attention towards the underwater dimension with the project to enforce the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities through emerging and disruptive technologies, with specific reference to the robotics and unmanned systems.

Defense News – France and Italy will see major mid-life upgrades to their Horizon-class frigates after co-contractors Eurosam and Naviris were awarded a €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) deal earlier this month.

Naval News – Naval News spoke to Fincantieri at SeaFuture to get an overview of the progress of some of the Marina Militare’s key programmes: Additional FREMMs, PPX, DDX, LxD, U212 NFS…

Guardian – Italian special forces have stormed a cargo ship sailing from Turkey to France after about 15 people armed with knives attempted to hijack the vessel.

Naval News – The Italian Navy’s second Thaon di Revel-class PPA Francesco Morosini left La Spezia naval base on the evening of 6 April for a deployment of five months in the Asia-Pacific region. The crew of the second Thaon di Revel-class PPA will call in fifteen ports of fourteen countries across the area up to Japan and South Korea to promote freedom of navigation and the respect of international law of the sea alongside the conduction of naval diplomacy and maritime security missions. The Italian Navy vessel will also participate in Operations Atalanta and Agenor, the later under the European-led Maritime Awareness in the Strait of Hormuz.

El Snorkel – Currently, there are five women in the Italian Armed Forces who have obtained the qualification of Submarine, including Subtenant (STV) Chiara Criscitiello, whom I had the opportunity to interview. (In Spanish)

(Thanks to Alain)

Defense News – Italian submarines are to monitor and deter attacks on undersea internet cables in the Mediterranean Sea as part of a new deal between the Italian Navy and the country’s largest private cable provider.

USNI News – The United Kingdom Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) and Italian carrier ITS Cavour (CVH550) on Monday performed a cross-decking and integration exercise of their embarked F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters south east of Sicily in the Mediterranean, making Italy the second nation after the United States to operate the aircraft off the U.K. warship.

StrategyPage – Italy is going to convert one of its two aircraft carriers, the 35-year-old Garibaldi, to a platform for launching SLVs (Satellite Launch Vehicle) rockets that put satellites into orbit.

War Zone – The Italian Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier is about to begin operations with the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter off the U.S. East Coast.

Naval News – The Italian Navy aircraft carrier ITS Cavour is set to reach Naval Station Norfolk in mid-February to start F-35B STOVL aircraft qualifications with the U.S. Marine Corps.

Naval News – The recent release of Italian MoD’s Multi-year Planning Document (Documento Programmatico Pluriennale – DPP) 2020-2022 and the Parliament hearings of the Minister of Defence Lorenzo Guerini and of the Chief of Italian Navy (Marina Militare), Vice Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, provide first details on new shipbuilding and joint/naval weapon system programmes.

Naval News – The Italian Navy’s Carlo Bergamini-class frigate “Federico Martinengo” (F596) recently foiled two pirate attacks in the Gulf of Guinea with the help of a VBSS team of the San Marco Marine Brigade. The FREMM GP frigate currently operates in the region to protect national interests and maritime routes

Defense News – A long-running tussle between Italy’s Air Force and Navy over the F35-B jet is coming to a head as deadlines approach for deciding who gets the next aircraft to roll off the production line and where it will be based.

CIMSEC – Italy must stand ready, as one of the most advanced countries on the basin, to guarantee freedom of navigation and the protection of its national interests in order to guarantee respect for international law.

– Forbes – Italy’s Near Future Submarine (NFS) design will be Italian in nature.

(Thanks to Alain)

– USNI News – The Mediterranean Sea has a host of security challenges: Russian submarine activity in the Eastern Med, instability in Syria and Libya, as well as the flow of migrants and illicit traffic throughout the region. The Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 is tasked with addressing them all.

– USNI News – All across the Mediterranean Sea, more non-NATO countries are fielding submarines while NATO allies are increasing the size of their own undersea fleets. Those submarines are also becoming harder to find. All told, the ability for NATO to find, track and identify submarines is not just a matter of defense against Russia, but a matter of basic traffic safety on and under the Mediterranean.

– Inside Over – It seems that an important first step has been taken towards the renewal and enlargement of the underwater component of the Italian Navy. (In Italian)

(Thanks to Alain)

– Naval News – The PPA Programme achieved an important technical milestone in late December 2019: the integration of the first two X-Band fixed sensor arrays of the new Dual Band Radar (DBR) X/C at the test bed in Pratica di Mare airfield, near Rome.

– Defense News – The Italian Navy’s anti-submarine warfare FREMM Alpino is in the United States on a tour of the East Coast. The Fincantieri-built warship is a contender for the U.S. Navy’s next-generation frigate, the FFG(X), and the Alpino is on this side of the Atlantic giving the service a look at what the hull can do.

– USNI News – The Italian Navy has issued a contract for a big deck amphibious warship in a $1.1 billion ship deal announced last week. The 22,000-ton landing helicopter dock (LHD) will feature a welldeck for amphibious landing craft, takeoff and landing spots for five helicopters and room for up to 1,000 personnel.