French, Italian Horizon Frigates to get Mid-life Upgrades With Improved Anti-Air Warfare Capability

Naviris signed a contract with OCCAR (Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation) for feasibility study on the mid-life upgrade (MLU) of the four Horizon frigates, on Wednesday.

The fifty-fifty joint venture between Fincantieri and Naval group will work with its industrial partners Leonardo, Thales, Eurosam, MBDA and Sigen.

The Feasibility Study, to be developed over the next twelve months, will be the first stage of the project and it will be focused mainly on the Anti-Air Warfare capability of the four vessels, Naval Group said in a release July 22.

The project aims at identifying and analyzing the modifications to be implemented on the French and Italian Horizon class destroyers to increase their capabilities until the end of their life cycle.

The Horizon frigates were originally built between 2000 and 2010 in a joint program between Fincantieri and Naval Group, providing the Italian and French Navies with two anti-air frigates each.

The 153m warships have a displacement of around 7,000 tonnes. These boats have a range of 7,000nm at 18 knots and can attain maximum speed of 29 knots. They can accommodate 210 crew members.