Artist’s rendering of the Italian Navy’s U212 near future submarine. Credit: © OCCAR-EA.

The Italian Navy’s U212 near future submarine (NFS) programme has achieved a significant milestone with the successful completion of the critical design review (CDR) stage.

The new progress was announced by the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’ARmement – OCCAR) on 21 February.

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OCCAR said that this key decision, taken on 15 February, marks a fundamental step in the maturation of U212 NFS programme.

This stage saw contribution from OCCAR-EA U212 NFS Programme Division, the Italian Navy submarine experts as well as a team of industry partners and small and medium-sized enterprises led by Italian shipbuilding company Fincantieri.

Under CDR stage, the teams carried out formal assessment of submarine’s final proposed design, as mentioned in the product specifications of each configuration items.

This associated stakeholders also validated the platform’s design to see whether it is mature and in accordance with the required mission performance standards or not. 

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One of the key objectives of the CDR stage was to determine the safety, maintainability and reliability of the programme to meet the latest technological advancements in the field, such as submarine’s survivability in harsh underwater environment and low-noise technology.

OCCAR claimed that all such features and standards have been address, while also weighing the budget, schedule and risk constraints of the programme.

Following the conclusion of CDR, the programme can now move to the next stage of construction, system installation, integration and trial phases.

Managed by OCCAR on behalf of the Italian Navy, U212 NFS programme involves construction of two submarines for to meet the future requirements of the Italian Navy to operate in complex underwater scenarios.

The initial contract was awarded to Fincantieri in 2021, while the production activities commenced in January last year.

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