Luigi Durand de la Penne / Animoso class

The major Italian Navy surface building program in the 1980s was the 5400 ton D-560 Animoso class, of which two were built and two more were planned [but not built]. In accordance with the Italian Navy's development program, the state company Finkanteri laid down two ANIMOSO-Class guided missile destroyers at the Riva Trigozo shipyard (in the city of Sestri-Levante) in March 1986. Earlier, in the press, they had been referred to as the SUPER AUDACHE-Class. It was expected they would be commissioned in 1990.

The new ships, which were initially designated the D560 ANIMOSO and D561 ARDIMENTOSO, were intended to replace the obsolete DDGS D570 IMPAVIDO and D571 INTREPIDO which were commissioned in the first half of the 1960s. The two Animoso-class ships were the most powerful units in the fleet. They were also the most expensive, costing about 1,000 billion lire each. The superdestroyers have dual propulsion plants, two gas turbines that will allow the ships tosprint to speeds of 31 knots, and two diesel engines thatwill allow the vessels to cruise at a speed of 18 knots for7,000 miles. They were designed inaccordance with naval engineering's most modern dictums, which include silencing techniques, redundance of vital equipment systems, upgraded compartmentalization, and superstructure reinforcement with kevlar and ceramic composite armor plates.

Designed to meet the expansion and modernization of the Navy, these two ships have the primary task of medium-range air defence and contrast of surface and underwater unit, needs that led to the choice of the combat system and, consequently, the general project of the platform. The hull is a continuous structure with two blocks of superstructures which encompass the two smoke stacks; the area aft of the bridge, with a length of about 25 meters is the flight deck with a hangar that can accommodate two helicopters. Particular attention was paid to the reduction of thermal and acoustic signature radar, speaking both about extending and inclination of the outer surfaces of the hull and superstructure is material coatings using radar-absorbent.

The application to protect the most vital and vulnerable local panels, Aramid, placed between two steel plates that form of heavy sandwich weighing just one-fifth compared to a normal metal armor, improve the characteristics of self-defense. MIKI of Erba, a company of the Aeritalia group was asked by Fincantieri to produce the protective paneling for the two new “Animoso” class ships. MIKI had many years experience in the area of» protective compounds, covering the full range of naval armament and equipment. Onboard installation was carried out with a patented system based on the use of special bolts. MIKI’S technical solutions are based on the use of special rolled sections, called Mirex panels, made with Kevlar fabric compacted with special thermo-setting resins and coupled with layers of fired clay. The system offers high resistance to fracture and kinetic penetration with only a slight increase in overall weight.

This type DDGs had the following design tactical characteristics: about 5,200-t displacement; length, 135.6 m; beam, 16 m; twin screw CODOG (two 27,500-hp LM2500 gas turbines and two 6,300-hp BL230DVM diesels) power plant; maximum speed, 31 kts; range at 15 kts, 7,000 mi; armament, four 2-container launchers for the MK2 OTOMAT anti-ship missile; a single STANDARD air defense missile launcher; an 8-round launcher for the ALBATROSS battery (ASPID air defensemissile), one 127-mm and three 76-mm gun mounts; and two 324-mm three-tube torpedo launchers. The Aspide short-range SAM is part of the multipurposeAlbatros SAM system installed aboard "Animoso"-Classguided missile destroyers. It has a semiactive radarhoming head

It was envisioned installing on the ship two AB.212 ASW helicopters (one in a hanger). There is a 400-man crew. Radioelectronic equipment includes: AN/SPS-52C, MM/SPS-768, MM/SPS-774 airsearch radars; MM/SPS-702 surface search radar; AN/SPG-51D air defense firecontrol radar and four NA-30 gun mounts, MM/SPS-703 navigation radar, sonar with a keel-mounted DE-1164 array. It was also envisioned installing a SIGINT station, a setup for active jamming and two chaff launchers, equipped with anti-radar dipole reflectors and infrared absorbers.

These ships were to be used in addition to "Maestrale"class guided missile frigates together with the light aircraft carrier "Giuseppe Garibaldi." By the mid-1990's, its role will be to share with its sister ship, Ardimentoso, the task of protecting the flagship of the fleet, the airmobile-carrier cruiser Garibaldi. The Navy, with the commissioning of these vessels, had almost completed its modernization program called for by the 1975 Naval Law. The two super-destroyers will come on-line to replace the obsolete cruisers Doria and Duilio and the destroyers Impavido and Intrepido

Laid down initially with the name Aimoso, in 1992 the Chief of staff of the Italian Navy decided to call the unit after the hero of the second world war Luigi Durand de la Penn, who had died on January 17 of that year, becoming the first unit with this name. After completing the warranty ending work, September 19, 1994, the unit's assignment was changed from La Spezia to Taranto.