VESSEL REVIEW | Paolo Thaon di Revel – Italian Navy places 143m patrol ship into service

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri recently delivered a new multi-purpose offshore patrol ship to the Italian Navy.

Paolo Thaon di Revel is the lead ship of a new class of seven patrol ships that were ordered by the Italian Navy. The vessels will be used for a range of missions including patrols, civil protection, and search and rescue (SAR), hence their official designation as multi-purpose offshore patrol vessels (Pattugliatore Polivalente d'Altura; PPA).

The PPA honours Paolo Camillo Thaon, Marquess of Revel and chief of staff of the Royal Italian Navy during the First World War.

The ship has an LOA of 143 metres, a beam of 16.5 metres, a draught of 10.5 metres, and accommodations for 135 crewmembers. Deck space is also available for an 11-metre-long rigid inflatable boat (RIB) that the crew can use for at-sea interceptions and boardings. The RIB is deployed into and recovered from the water via davits or a stern ramp.

The combined diesel and gas turbine (CODAG) propulsion driving two controllable-pitch propellers will allow the PPA to reach 32 knots while low-speed sailings will utilise onboard electric motors, though the wave-piercing bow design helps reduce fuel consumption even at higher speeds. Even when only one of the two main diesel engines is in operation, the ship can still easily make 18 knots. Sailing at a more economical 15 knots will yield a range of 5,000 nautical miles, making the ship suitable for operations of extended duration.

The CODAG arrangement includes a GE LM2500 32,000kW gas turbine, two MTU 20V8000 M91L diesel engines, four MAN 1,640kW generators, two 1,350kW electric motors, and a 550kW side thruster. Two emergency diesel generators are also installed.

The ship is capable of dealing with surface, subsurface, and airborne threats. The armament includes Leonardo (formerly Oto Melara) 76-millimetre and 127-millimetre naval guns, a Leonardo/Oerlikon 25-millimetre close-range defence autocannon, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship/land attack missiles, and torpedoes. Leonardo-Finmeccanica provided an array of guidance systems, a combat management system, radars, a cockpit-style integrated navigation management system that can be operated by only two crewmembers, an infrared search and track (IRST) sensor, a fire control system, identification friend or foe (IFF) antennae, and an advanced sonar that can detect divers and underwater saboteurs.

Leonardo also supplied decoy launchers as defensive countermeasures against guided missiles.

Aviation facilities are available for either two NH90 or one AW101 utility helicopter and include a double hangar and a 25.5- by 16.5-metre flight deck. Also located at the stern and amidships are spaces for accommodating ISO containers laden with dry cargo or mission-specific modules.

Fincantieri expects to complete deliveries of the six remaining Thaon di Revel-class PPAs to the Italian Navy by 2026.

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