Breaking

Italy orders two DDX air-defense destroyers in $4.2 billion OCCAR contract

The Fincantieri-Leonardo joint venture will build the 13,500-tonne warships for delivery in 2033 and 2035 to replace the Italian Navy’s two Horizon-class destroyers.

Motion Media News Staff

Sep 24, 2026

2 minutes

A gray Italian Navy destroyer with the hull number D 553 sails close alongside another ship at sea.

Photo: U.S. Navy / MC3 Billy Ho (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons (source)

Italy has signed a contract worth €3.7 billion, or about $4.2 billion, for two DDX destroyers designed for air and missile defense, Breaking Defense and Defense News reported on Thursday, Sept. 24.

The contract was awarded by the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation, or OCCAR, the European body that manages multinational arms programs. The builder is Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, a joint venture of Italy's state-controlled shipbuilder Fincantieri, which owns 51%, and defense group Leonardo, which owns 49%, according to Defense News.

The ships are scheduled for delivery in 2033 and 2035. When Italy first announced plans for new destroyers in 2020, it reportedly aimed for delivery in 2028, Breaking Defense reported. Citing the Italian outlet Infodifesa, Breaking Defense said the program slipped about three years because of problems likely tied to setting operational requirements and funding. Italy's Ministry of Defense did not respond to Breaking Defense's request for comment.

The ships

According to the companies' joint statement, each DDX will be 180 meters (about 590 feet) long, displace 13,500 tonnes and have a range of more than 4,000 nautical miles. Defense News reported a crew of 251.

The firms said the destroyers will carry Leonardo's SADOC 5 command-and-control system, an S-band digital AESA radar and weapons from missile maker MBDA. They described the program as a "significant generational leap" in air and missile defense and said the ships will be able to counter "missile, ballistic and hypersonic threats." ELT Group said it will supply an electronic warfare suite.

Fincantieri will design and build the ships, and Leonardo will support development of the combat system. The joint venture expects to sign subcontracts "in the coming weeks" worth about €1.8 billion with Fincantieri and about €1.7 billion with Leonardo, the statement said. Around €1.3 billion of the total contract value is in options, Breaking Defense reported.

The DDX ships will serve alongside and eventually replace the Italian Navy's two Horizon-class destroyers, a navy spokesman told Defense News. The order follows Italian purchases of FREMM frigates, multimission patrol ships, a landing helicopter dock, submarines and logistics vessels.

What's next

Fincantieri said in May that it expected near-term orders of about €5 billion, including DDX, and that two ships from the Italian Navy's J3MS program would be contracted within months, according to Breaking Defense.