The Navy equips itself with new submarines. In Rome, the contract between Fincantieri and the International Organization for Armaments (Occar) was signed for two new units called U212NFS which will be delivered in 2027 and 2029 replacing two Sauro class submarines.
The agreement, we were already talking about in January, was hailed as a success by both the Armed Force and the Italian shipbuilding giant. Navy Chief of Staff, squad admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, expressed his satisfaction in a press release in which, among other things, the strategic importance of the agreement is highlighted, especially given the importance of the underwater dimension in the protection of national strategic interests. Per Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri, the agreement also helps Italy to “remain in the very small circle of countries capable of building such sophisticated units”, also underlining the partnership not only with the Germans of Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems but also with Leonardo, who will collaborate for a new one Combat Management System and a laboratory for simulation and training for Taranto.
Strengthening the submarine fleet is one of the most important themes of navies around the world. The diving capabilities of a country are not in fact simply of a purely military character, but there are a whole series of strategic interests which are protected and promoted through the use of submarines. Just think of the preponderant role that submarine energy supply lines as well as have assumed in recent years the fundamental role of submarine cables for the telecommunications sector. The physical infrastructures to which energy and data pass, practically the fundamental elements of today’s society, are largely built on the surface of the seabed.
For the protection of these national interests, it is clear that a modern underwater fleet is becoming more and more necessary, so much so that almost all the major naval forces in the world they are expanding their underwater capabilities, both in terms of offensive capabilities, and in terms of technological potential, data collection capacity and for monitoring areas of strategic interest.
What happens under the seabed very often appears far from the perception of public opinion but also of the ruling classes. The submarine, also perhaps by its very nature and its own “Invisibility” it is sometimes considered a unit of secondary importance or in any case little corresponding to what appear to be the primary needs of a state in the sea. In reality, as written above, the submarine today is not only a product of the highest technology, but also an element that is assuming ever higher positions in the hierarchy of units supplied to the various fleets. The image of nuclear submarines has the flavor of the Cold War, with an almost cinematographic connotation or at least far from what is imagined for Italy. But today’s reality does not allow perception errors: the protection of what is under the surface of the water, in many cases, is even a priority over what flows above it. The vehicles with which Italy is equipped, which will be built in the Muggiano shipyards, confirm that the great game of the Mediterranean also has the abyss as protagonists.
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