Fincantieri: Portugal to acquire three frigates – a 3 billion investment

Portugal is to purchase three Fremm Evo frigates built by Fincantieri, representing a total investment of around 3 billion euros. The agreement was announced at Palazzo Chigi by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro at the conclusion of their meeting. The deal had been reported in the Portuguese press in recent months, and the bilateral meeting between the two countries has now formalised it.

Meloni spoke of a ‘recognition of the excellence of Italian industry’ and of a demonstration that Europe can strengthen its autonomy by investing in the industrial and technological capabilities of the continent’s companies. The Prime Minister described the agreement as a starting point for stepping up cooperation between the two countries’ maritime sectors, extending it to civil shipbuilding, the blue economy and, more generally, to strategic sectors linked to maritime affairs – a key aspect of both present and future geopolitics.

Montenegro described the agreement as an investment of around 3 billion euros, highlighting its impact on Portugal’s and Europe’s capacity to monitor and control maritime resources, safeguard strategic interests and ensure freedom of international navigation. The Portuguese Prime Minister also linked the deal to the European strategy for greater industrial autonomy, which has the potential to create jobs and generate new economic opportunities.

Returning to the deal, Portugal will acquire three vessels of the latest version of the Fremm Evo (Evolution) class, which the joint venture Orizzonte Sistemi Navali (OSN) – 51 per cent owned by Fincantieri and 49 per cent by Leonardo – is already building two examples of for the Italian Navy. The three new frigates will gradually replace the current Vasco da Gama-class vessels in service with the Portuguese Navy, which were built over 30 years ago and are now nearing the end of their operational life.

The Portuguese fleet currently comprises five vessels: three belong to the Vasco da Gama class (Nrp Vasco da Gama, Álvares Cabral and Corte Real), whilst the remaining two are of the Bartolomeu Dias class, formerly belonging to the Dutch Navy and acquired by Portugal between 2006 and 2010 (Nrp Bartolomeu Dias and D. Francisco de Almeida). With this move, therefore, Portugal will acquire a technologically advanced platform with more modern capabilities in terms of anti-submarine warfare, air defence, electronic warfare and battlefield management.