Today, and in conjunction with announcing the agreement, the Italian Minister of Defense Roberta Pinotti was present at the Fincantieri shipyard in Muggiano (La Spezia) for the launching ceremony of the Pietro Venuti submarine, the third unit of four U212A Todaro-class twin units ordered from Fincantieri by the Central Unit for Naval Armament – NAVARM for the Italian Navy.

The Chief of Staff of the Italian Navy, Admiral Giuseppe De Giorgi, also attended the ceremony. He was welcomed to the shipyard on behalf of Fincantieri by the President, Ambassador Vincenzo Petrone, and the CEO Giuseppe Bono, and by Giovanni Gorno Tempini, CEO of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti.

As by tradition, Navies prefer direct relations with the shipyard, and Fincantieri will act as the only interface with clients, being thus able to appraise the entire offer of Finmeccanica naval products, the company said in a prepared statement.

This agreement also envisages collaboration on research and innovation activities, to maximize market positioning and to rationalize investments, also through the promotion of joint studies in the common sectors.

Fincantieri and Finmeccanica said they will also look at opportunities to create a common network of suppliers for base products and components, in order to achieve yet more efficiencies and develop the technological excellence of Italian small and medium-sized enterprises, while fostering their growth both in terms of size and as regards their product development.

Fincantieri’s CEO Bono commented that the agreement will allow a truly integrated industrial system based on an annual business volume of a 1.5 billion euro. He added that the Venuti launched today confirmed this effort. “The state of the art submarine is the result of the cooperation of major Italian companies in this sector and of Fincantieri’s continuous investment in research and development. It provides additional evidence of the skills and knowledge we bring to the table in the most technologically-advanced sectors of shipbuilding”.

Mauro Moretti, CEO and general manager of Finmeccanica, said that the collaboration between two Italian industries is of historical significance, making the naval sector more effective, and representing an important opportunity to strengthen the global position of technological excellence of the two companies. Finmeccanica will provide the skills, products and technologies in combat, weapons and surveillance systems, with the aim of offering an integrated and competitive range of products capable of fully meeting a wide variety of customer requirements. He said that the submarine launched today, which integrates some of the most advanced WASS systems, is another strong example of the already profitable collaboration between Fincantieri and Finmeccanica.