Orizzonte Sistemi Navali - Warship System Engineering and Design

Orizzonte Sistemi Navali S.p.A (OSN) is the sole Italian prime contractor and design authority supplying 'flexible turn-key' naval surface vessels with high technological content.

In November 1995, the company was established by Fincantieri and Finmeccanica as 'Orizzonte S.p.A.' with the specific task to be the Italian prime for the Horizon frigate program.

On December 2002 the name of the company changed to Orizzonte Sistemi Navali S.p.A., which was assigned the role of prime contractor and design authority for the European program of the FREMM frigate, for a total of 27 vessels, to be designed and built for the Italian and French Navy (with Armaris as the French partner).

The company is also the prime contractor for the mid-life refurbishment of the DDG of the Italian Navy.

OSN: PRIME CONTRACTOR FOR NAVAL VESSELS

The company manages programmes throughout the whole lifetime of the ship acting as single point of responsibility for the complex organisation needed for the design and development of the naval vessel.

OSN: WHOLE WARSHIP DESIGN AUTHORITY

Orizzonte Sistemi Navali acts as a 'whole warship design authority', being responsible for the definition of the platform system and the combat system, as well as the physical and functional integration of the whole ship, and the through life support.

OSN designs the whole warship according to customer needs and requirements. In the design phase particular attention is given to the functional and physical integration of the platform and combat system components achieving highly performing automated operations together with a reduced requirement for onboard personnel.

OSN: TOTAL SHIP SYSTEM DESIGN APPROACH

Total Ship System Design (TSSD) is based on a cooperative system-engineering approach that links the system capabilities of all industries involved in the warship platform and combat system design and production under the direction of Orizzonte Sistemi Navali. The TSSD approach is supported by a number of specific tools, such as value analysis and ship virtual prototyping.

Value analysis evaluates costs and effectiveness of the ship missions, giving data and rationale for the optimum trade-off solution. OSN applies proprietary software for value analysis purposes.

The virtual prototyping assists the design of warships, to better understand the behaviour of such complex systems, composed of platform, combat system and humans, in different environmental and operational scenarios. Orizzonte Sistemi Navali has developed a distributed simulation, named VISION (VIrtual Ship SimulatION) in order to allow a quick evaluation of different design alternatives. It represents an innovative approach for the design of warships. VISION uses a federation of simulators / emulators / stimulators representing the warship's behaviour in the selected scenario.

OSN: PRODUCTION LINE AND SERVICES

Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, the Italian warship system engineering company, provides for the design of turn-key military naval solutions, including the definition and the integration of the relevant combat system.

The company offers a wide range of combat vessels, typically:

• Corvettes: Cigala Fulgosi, Multipurpose and Missile corvette types
• Frigates and Destroyers: FREMM and Horizon type
• Aircraft carriers: Cavour type

The company provides for a large variety of services, including:

• Consulting for definition of naval needs, engineering and planning requirements
• Integrated logistic support for the vessels' life cycle
• Refitting, modernisation and upgrading of existing vessels
• Financing
• Offset
• Assistance to local shipyards for design, development and construction with transfer of technology and know-how