Non price-sensitive communications

Fincantieri, in partnership with Lockheed Martin, number one in the Defense sector, has gained a contract for the construction of 10 Littoral Combat Ships.

The first vessel is worth 437 million dollars and the remaining nine ships will be purchased by a number of options to be exercised by the US Navy within 2015, taking the total value of the contract to over 4 billion dollars. The LCS program provides for the construction of a total of 55 ships within 2020, for a value of over 20 billion dollars.

While the vessels will be built at Fincantieri’s US shipyards a substantial amount of work will be carried out by the Group’s Systems and Components Unit, including the Isotta Fraschini electrical diesel generators and the ship’s cutting edge stabilizer system which have already been incorporated in the first two vessels built.

The vessels are medium size ships which are highly innovative and suitable for deployment in a range of mission types for defence from threats of an “asymmetric” nature (as terrorist attacks), since the ships have three types of combat modules on one single platform (surface, mine-hunting, anti-submarines).

LCS have a displacement at full load of 3,000 tons, are 115 meters long with a beam of 17.5 meters. The flight deck is particularly wide and there is a large hangar which can accommodate two helicopters. Thanks to a combined diesel/turbogas propulsion system the ships can reach a speed of 45 knots.

The ship’s hull has been developed from the experience Fincantieri gained with the fast monohull “Destriero” (the vessel which in 1992 broke the record for crossing the Atlantic Ocean at an incredible average speed of 53 knots, with peaks of 70 knots) and from Fincantieri base designs for a large number of fast ferries delivered in recent years.

The ships will be built at Fincantieri’s Marine Group of Marinette Marine shipyard in Wisconsin, where the company already built the first LCS ship, the “Freedom” – since 2008 in service to the satisfaction of the US Navy and successfully deployed in anti-drug operations. The yard is currently building the “Fort Worth”, which was launched 4 December and will be delivered to the Navy within 2012.

The new ships will benefit from efficiency improvements gained during the construction of the first two.

Bob Stevens, Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin, commented: “The Lockheed Martin team’s Littoral Combat Ship is designed to confront rapidly changing global threats while providing a cost-effective solution in an era of tight budgets. This team’s strong performance will enable the Navy to deploy a class of affordable, multi-mission combatants to address the nation's needs for decades to come”.  

Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri said: “We are particularly proud to have been chosen by the US Navy, together with a world class lead partner such as Lockheed Martin, in a challenging and cutting-edge fleet renewal program. Gaining this contract bears out one of our firm beliefs: the answer to tough competition is to think and act globally, setting up positive synergies and offering customers all over the world a state-of-the-art product on time and on budget. Excellence is the key to success and the outstanding results we have reached with our US yards enables us to play a prominent role in the international arena”. Bono concluded: “I am confident that Fincantieri’s gaining this prestige contract can reawaken in our national industry the qualities of pride and enthusiasm which are essential to overcome periods of crisis such as these”.

Orders which Fincantieri has already gained in the USA include an oceanographic research vessel to operate in polar waters (Alaska Region Research Vessel - ARRV) for the University of Fairbanks (Alaska), another oceanographic research vessel ordered by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). In addition, in 2010 an order for 39 RB-M vessels (out of a total of 105) was placed by the US Coast Guard for construction at ACE Marine shipyard; 35 have already been delivered.

Furthermore, expectations are high with regard to the Sea Base-to-Shore Connector (SSC) program which envisages a tender for the construction of a new fleet of hovercraft for the US Navy (80 vessels worth 4 billion dollars). With a view to participating together, Fincantieri and the aerospace giant Boeing signed an agreement of cooperation in 2009.