Italian Navy’s sixth FREMM, multi-mission, frigate Luigi Rizzo F595 left Fincantieri’s shipyard in Muggiano, La Spezia, to start sea trials May 17.
The sixth of overall ten ships is scheduled for delivery in early 2017.
Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri is building the vessels for the Italian Navy within the framework of an Italo-French cooperation program under the coordination of OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe de Cooperation sur l’Armement, the international organization for cooperation on arms).
Fincantieri’s French counterpart, DCNS, delivered the third French FREMM frigate, FS Languedoc, in March 2016.
The 144-meter ‘Luigi Rizzo’ has a displacement of approximately 6,700 tonnes. Fincantieri said the vessel would be capable of reaching a speed of over 27 knots and would provide accommodation for a 200-person crew.
The FREMM program ships are set to replace the Lupo- and Maestrale-class frigates built by Fincantieri in the 1970s.
The vessels ‘Carlo Bergamini’ and ‘Virginio Fasan’ were delivered in 2013, the ‘Carlo Margottini’ in 2014, the ‘Carabiniere’ in 2015 while the delivery of the ‘Alpino’ is scheduled for 2016. With the option exercised April 2015 for the construction of the ninth and tenth vessel, whose delivery is scheduled after 2020, the Italian program has been fully implemented.