Egypt has reportedly placed an order for two Italian FREMM Bergamini-class frigates for $1.2 billion.
The contract was signed in late August. The Egyptian Navy will receive its first frigate by the end of this year. It will get the second ship in 2021, Italian magazine L’Espresso reported September 30.
As earlier reported by the Italian media, the initial contract for two frigates could be followed by an order for two more. Egypt is also said to be interested in buying patrol ships from Fincantieri, some of which it would build locally under license along the same business model it adopted with the French Gowind corvettes.
The FREMM program is a joint Italian-French Defense industrial co-operation project for a new generation of frigates, having a common baseline, but differing from one country to the other as a function of different operational requirements. The frigates for the Italian Navy are built at the Fincantieri’s integrated naval shipyard of Riva Trigoso-Muggiano.
The FREMM Bergamini-class frigates have a full load displacement of about 6,500 tons, an overall length of about 144 metres and a top speed exceeding 27 knots.
