TRIESTE – Fincantieri, through its subsidiary WASS Submarine Systems, has secured an order worth more than €200 million from the Saudi Ministry of Defence for the supply of MU90 lightweight torpedoes to the Royal Saudi Naval Force. It is the most important contract in WASS’s 150-year history.
The agreement was announced at the World Defence Show currently under way in Riyadh. The contract was signed by WASS CEO Andrea Adorni and the Saudi Ministry of Defence’s Deputy Minister for Armaments, in the presence of Fincantieri CEO Pierroberto Folgiero.
The programme will be managed by WASS’s Livorno facility, the group’s centre of excellence for underwater systems. Deliveries are scheduled between 2029 and 2030. The contract also includes a logistics support package for the Saudi Navy.
The MU90 is a third-generation lightweight torpedo, already in service with the Italian Navy and with more than ten navies worldwide. It is designed for anti-submarine warfare missions and can be deployed from surface units and airborne platforms, both fixed-wing and rotary-wing.
This is the first order signed directly by WASS with the Saudi Ministry of Defence. The deal strengthens the group’s positioning in the country, where Fincantieri Arabia for Naval Services was launched in 2024. Collaborations are also continuing with the Saudi Red Sea Authority and with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.
According to Folgiero, the contract confirms the technological excellence of the group’s underwater systems and consolidates Fincantieri’s industrial presence in a market regarded as strategic, with an integrated approach ranging from design to local footprint.
