Italy’s Fincantieri will build newest class of US Navy warships

The Italian warship, which would be modified to meet U.S. Navy specifications and requirements, is capable of conducting anti-submarine warfare, point-defense anti-air warfare, electronic warfare, anti-surface warfare and special operation insertion.

“It’s a proven design operating at sea with both the Italian and French navies. The French have taken it and have launched in combat,” a spokesperson for Fincantieri Marinette Marine told CNBC, referring to the 2018 retaliatory strikes in Syria.

The targeted strikes, carried out by the United States, United Kingdom and France, were aimed at destroying the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons infrastructure days after a suspected chemical attack by Syrian forces. On April 13, 2018, the French used one of its Fincantieri-built ships to successfully launch naval cruise missiles against a chemical weapons production site.

From the bridge of the ship, we are shown how the missiles were launched during the April strike. Fincantieri’s design is equipped with a 16-cell vertical launch system, or VLS, for holding and firing missiles.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/04/italys-fincantieri-will-build-newest-class-of-us-navy-warships.html