Lewin of Greenwich Naval History & Forum

At least 1 unit of their new frigate (?) class is well underway. Here is a cgi of the design, plus bow of first one peeking out beyond another new FREMM.

I wonder what the reason is for the bow shape? Sounds like a balanced and potent design for its size, quite UNlike USN po$ LC$!DFO

some specs:

Displacement: PPA Full: light displacement: 4.994 t (4.915 long tons); full load displacement 6.270 t (6.171 long tons) [2]
PPA Light+: light displacement: 4.912 t (4.834 long tons); full load displacement 5.880 t (5.787 long tons)
PPA Light: light displacement: 4.880 t (4.803 long tons) tonnes; full load displacement 5.830 t (5.738 long tons)

Length: - 143 m (469 ft 2 in) LOA
- 133 m (436 ft 4 in) LPP

Beam: 16.5 m (54 ft 2 in)
Draught: 10.5 m (34 ft 5 in)
Depth: 5 m (16 ft 5 in)
Propulsion: - CODAG CC scheme
- 1 × TAG General Electric/Avio LM2500+G4, 32,000 kW (43,000 hp) [3]
- 2 × diesel engines MTU 20V 8000 M91L, 10,000 kW (13,000 hp) each [4]
- 4 x diesel engine generators M.A.N. GenSets 12V175D-MEM 1,640 kW (2,200 hp) each [5] [6]
- 2 × electric engines, 1,350 kW (1,810 hp) each (reversible)
- 2 x diesel engine emergency generators
- 1 × thruster, 550 kW (740 hp)
- 2 × shafts, driving controllable pitch propellers

Speed: - 31.6 knots (58.5 km/h; 36.4 mph) on CODAG [7]
- 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph) only on TAG
- 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) only on 2 main diesel engines
- 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) only on 1 main diesel engine
- 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) on electric-diesel engine
all data refers to PPA Full version

Armament: Guns:
1 × Oto Melara 127/64 mm Vulcano with Automated Ammunition Handling System (AAHS)
1 × Oto Melara 76/62 mm Strales Sovraponte Anti-aircraft gun
2 × Oto Melara Oerlikon KBA B06, remote mounting
Anti-air missiles:
PPA Full and Light+: 2 x 8-cell DCNS SYLVER A70 VLS for 16 Aster 15 and 30 or Scalp Naval missiles[11]
PPA Light: FFBNW for 2 x 8-cell DCNS SYLVER A70 VLS for 16 Aster 15 and 30 or Scalp Naval missiles[12]
Anti-ship missiles:
PPA Full: 8 × Teseo\Otomat Mk-2/E anti-ship and land attack missiles
PPA Light+ and Light: FFBNW 8 × Teseo\Otomat Mk-2/E anti-ship and land attack missiles
Anti-submarine warfare:
PPA Full: 2 x WASS single launcher for NSP 533 mm torpedoes
2 x triple WASS B-515/3 launcher for Black Arrow 324 mm torpedoes
PPA Light+ and Light: FFBNW 2 x triple WASS B-515/3 launcher for Black Arrow 324 mm torpedoes

Aircraft carried: 2 × SH90 or 1 × AW101

Lead ship is Paolo Thaon di Revel.

The P T is his name, d R as Marquess of Reval. He was given many titles in his lifetime, 1859 - 1948, including those bestowed by the King and subsequently Mussolini, so was widely accepted by all Italians including an intriguing First World War, in fact so intriguing it simply gets confusing especially when you become 1st Duke of the Sea.

The Italians continue with their lengthy ship names so at least nothing new there then. They all get abbreviated anyway you'd have thought they would have got the message after all these years. Others are becoming increasingly guilty.

I note there are no post # numbers here. Hmm..

Here is the second unit of the class, fitting out......... DFO

ITS Raimondo Montecuccoli, the third unit of the Thaon di Revel Class OPV launched this morning at Fincantieri Shipyards in Riva Trigoso.

Commissioning of the first PPA, Lead Ship, OPV ITS Paolo Thaon di Revel to the Marina Militare on March 18th 2022.