“The DDX programme is set to redefine the Italian Navy’s capability profile in the field of air and missile defence through a significant generational leap,” the two manufacturers said in a joint statement today.
OCCAR signs a €3.7 billion ($4.2 billion) contract for two DDX destroyers
Europe’s Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) has issued a €3.7 billion contract for the production of two Italian Navy DDX destroyers to Orizzonte Sistemi Navali (OSN), the joint venture formed by Fincantieri and Leonardo. The contract price converts to roughly $4.2 billion, according to the announcement published in Belfast.
The contract includes roughly €1.3 billion in options and reportedly will be followed, “in the coming weeks,” by OSN cementing sub-supply contracts with Fincantieri valued at about €1.8 billion and Leonardo worth an estimated €1.7 billion.
Schedule and programme history: 2033 and 2035 deliveries after multi-year delays
Deliveries of the two ships are planned for 2033 and 2035. Those dates represent a slip from the timeline Rome reportedly first set when it unveiled plans in 2020, which committed to a 2028 delivery timeline. A construction contract had been “penciled in” for 2023, dependent on funding, but Italian outlet Infodifesa reported problems—“likely linked” to defining operational requirements and financial resources—that produced approximately a three-year delay.
The Italian Ministry of Defense did not respond to a request for comment at press time.
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Get a security leadRoles inside OSN: Fincantieri to build the hull; Leonardo to lead combat systems
Shipbuilder Fincantieri is responsible for the design and construction of the new destroyer, while Leonardo will support combat system development, the joint statement said. In line with Fincantieri’s first-quarter financial results and business outlook update earlier this year, the company had indicated it expected to seal near-term orders worth around €5 billion, “including the DDX deal.”
Fincantieri’s Q1 summary also noted that two units from the Italian Navy’s Joint Maritime Mission System (J3MS) program would be contracted “within months” and that the firm “plans to finalize major contracts with several foreign navies both for the supply of surface vessels, including FREMM frigates, and for the provision of services in the Middle East and other key geographic areas.”
Platform design and combat systems: SADOC 5, digital S‑band AESA radar and MBDA weapons
The DDX is described in the joint statement as a 180‑metre ship with a 13,500‑tonne displacement and a range in excess of 4,000 nautical miles. The manufacturers said the surface ship will provide an “unprecedented” integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) capability “against missile, ballistic and hypersonic threats.”
Key systems named in the announcement include a SADOC 5 C5I system, a digital S‑band AESA radar, and weapons supplied by MBDA. Italian electronics specialist ELT Group said in a related statement that it will equip the DDX vessels with a “next‑generation electronic warfare suite designed to enhance the protection of both the platform and the entire naval force in increasingly complex, multi‑domain operational scenarios.”
What this means for the Italian Navy, Fincantieri, and ELT Group
- Italian Navy — The two DDX ships are slated to replace a pair of Durand de la Penne‑class destroyers and, per the joint statement, aim to deliver a generational leap in air and missile defence capability.
- Fincantieri — The shipbuilder will carry the design and construction responsibility and stands to convert sub‑supply awards of about €1.8 billion into concrete industrial work; the DDX also forms part of its stated near‑term order pipeline of around €5 billion disclosed in Q1 reporting.
- ELT Group — The company has been named as the supplier of the vessels’ electronic warfare suite, a role it framed as enhancing protection “in increasingly complex, multi‑domain operational scenarios.”
The OCCAR award formalizes a multi‑billion‑euro programme that pairs traditional shipbuilding with modern, digital combat systems and electronics. It also crystallizes a schedule that has already slipped by roughly five years from initial public timetables: plans first announced in 2020 envisaged 2028 delivery, while current contracts set 2033 and 2035. With roughly €1.3 billion of the contract tied to options and sub‑supply confirmations promised “in the coming weeks,” the next visible milestones will be those contractual activations and the first construction milestones under the Fincantieri‑led build program.
