TRIESTE – Fincantieri and Navantia have reached a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen collaboration in the naval and maritime fields.
The two companies, both references of the European shipbuilding industry, will evaluate opportunities related to the Italian and Spanish Navies, including joint projects and participation in developing the following destroyers and other naval platforms that will be part of the future European Defense Force.
The signing of the MoU took place today at the Navantia stand at the FEINDEF (International Defense and Security Fair) in Madrid, between the general manager of Fincantieri’s Military Ships Division, Giuseppe Giordo, and the president of Navantia. Ricardo Domínguez.
Navantia and Fincantieri are already collaborating on the European Patrol Corvette (EPC) program, to date the most important naval initiative under the European Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) project, together with the French Naval Group. Also, in this case, the agreement is the result of an MoU signed in February this year.
Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri, stated: “We have long agreed that, in order to stand its ground with the global challenges of the future, we need a robust and long lasting cooperation in the defence and security field at a European level, just so our continent will be able to play an increasingly important role and this agreement goes in that direction. We are therefore very satisfied to give substance to a plan that can no longer be postponed and to build a collaboration path based on important programs of the two Navies”.
Navantia’s Chairman Ricardo Domínguez has emphasized “the real opportunity of collaboration that this MoU represents, as it is the first one signed between both companies at this level and with this ambitious scope”. “We aim to strengthen European Defence and boost European Defence Industry position and we think that agreements as ours pave the way towards this objective”, he has added.