Fincantieri has signed with the Armament Authority formally representing the Ministry of defense of the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt, a 10-year contract related to two Fremm vessels of In-Service Support and Integrated Logistic Support, i.e., preventive maintenance services, logistic studies and corrective maintenance on demand, with a value of about € 260 million.
The company made the announcement on 22 November, stating the total value of the contract includes the portion that will be allocated to Orizzonte Sistemi Navali (OSN) – the joint venture owned by Fincantieri and Leonardo with stakes of 51% and 49%, respectively – as a sub-supplier.
The contract is subject to the fulfillment of customary conditions precedent for the sector. The total value of the contract includes the portion that will be allocated to Orizzonte Sistemi Navali (OSN) – the joint venture owned by Fincantieri and Leonardo with stakes of 51% and 49%, respectively – as a sub-supplier.
The sub-supplier agreement between Fincantieri and OSN constitutes a transaction between related parties of greater significance defined in compliance with the relevant applicable regulations. The transaction benefits from the exclusion from the procedural regime provided for transactions with subsidiaries (including jointly).
Pierroberto Folgiero, CEO of Fincantieri, commented: “This contract confirms Fincantieri’s strategy of creating long-term strategic partnerships involving multi-year delivery of technology services with key customers”.
The Egyptian Navy received two ex-Italian Navy FREMM frigates, ENS Bernees (ex-Emilio Bianchi) and ENS Al Galala (ex-Spartaco Schergat) in April 2021 and December 2020 respectively.
In early 2020, Egypt ordered two FREMM frigates from Italy, drawn from the Italian Navy’s stock – the vessels Spartaco Schergat and Emilio Bianchi, launched in January 2019 and January 2020, respectively – enabling Fincantieri to sell the vessels for an estimated cost of €1.2 billion.
The frigate deal is believed to be part of a much larger package that includes another four frigates, 20 corvettes based on the Falaj class that Fincantieri built for the United Arab Emirates, 24 Eurofighter Typhoon multirole jets, 24 M346 jet trainers, and a surveillance satellite.
In December 2020, the FREMM frigate (FFG 1002) Al-Ghalala, a Bergamini-class general purpose vessel arrived at the Alexandria naval shipyard.
Subsequently, a year later, the second of the two Italian-built FREMM frigates (ENS Bernees) bought by Egypt arrived at the naval base in Alexandria on 14 April to join the Egyptian Navy fleet. Formerly the Emilio Bianchi before being acquired by the Egyptian Navy and being renamed, ENS Bernees was constructed by Italian company Fincantieri.
The ex-Italian frigates are in ‘general purpose’ configuration and armed with a Leonardo 127/64 mm LightWeight (LW) mm gun, a 76/62 mm Super Rapido gun and two 25 mm guns as well as the MBDA SAAM-ESD (Surface Anti-Air Missile – Extended Self-Defence) Air Defence Missile system able to launch the Aster family of surface-to-air missiles. Some sensitive equipment particular to the Italian Navy, including electronic warfare systems, have apparently been removed and replaced with equipment sourced elsewhere.