• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

SDO SuRS - Special and Diving Operations - Submarine Rescue Ship
USSUP - Unità Supporto Subacqueo Polivalente
USSP - Unità Soccorso Sommergibili Polivalente
ARS / NAI - Auxiliary Rescue Ship / Nucleo. Appoggio Incursori
Multirole support and submarine rescue vessel

The Unita Soccorso Sommergibili Polivalente, USSP, is a auxiliary ship announced by the Italian navy for submarine support, special force deployment, artic exploration, etc. The ship had a number of design iterations since the year 2010. The new unit will be equipped with advanced systems of diving and underwater exploration almost unique in the international scene, performing the essential function of submarine rescue, consistent with the modernization in place of the underwater fleet of the Armed Force, but also capable of ensuring fundamental support to the Navy. This unit, together with the new U212NFS submarines, will significantly contribute to the surveillance and control of critical undersea infrastructures, all within the broader context of what is nowadays defined as Maritime Security, also from a dual point of view.

On 09 June 2021 T. Mariotti, the historic shipyard of the Genova Industrie Navali Group, won the tender announced by the Naval Armaments Directorate of the General Secretariat of Defense and National Armaments Directorate for the construction of a naval unit of the Navy Military to support underwater operations, special operations and rescue personnel of damaged submarines. The signing of the contract is expected by the summer and its construction will engage the shipyard and local companies for four years, creating a considerable induced activity for the Ligurian realities, both in terms of employment and supply of new products and services, starting from from the planning phase scheduled for next autumn. The cutting of the first sheet is scheduled by the end of 2022.

Leonardo is involved in the project as supplier of the command and control systems of the unit and two companies from La Spezia, Carlo Agnese and Exa Engineering, for the restructuring of the logistic infrastructures that will house the hyperbaric simulator, a valuable technological asset for training, also an integral part of the supply and which will be located at the La Spezia military arsenal.

The ship will be equipped, among other things, with an advanced command and control system, with modern assets for the search and rescue operations of national or allied submarines, a flight deck for helicopters, a complex integrated diving system. deep including moon pools, as well as structures capable of providing first aid surgical medical assistance also in the area of ??disaster relief in favor of other departments of the State. These versatile operational capabilities can, of course, be made available to other administrations / entities for non-military purposes and for the benefit of the community, such as, for example, scientific research in all sectors and the investigation and recovery of artifacts or artifacts found. high seabed.

The Multi-year Defense Policy Document for the three-year period 2018-2020'sent to the Chamber on 15 October 2018 provided for the acquisition of a disaster-assisted submarine auxiliary unit and support for underwater operations. The launch of the program is vital to ensure a solution of both the capacitive continuity of the MM but also of industrial development in a strategic sector such as the underwater one, with potential outlets in terms of European collaboration and export dual-use with specific rescue capabilities for disaster-submersible submarines and support for special and underwater operations, including in the civil field.

The Italian Defense Planning 2013-2015 for the USSP program related to the acquisition and initial logistical support of one Multi-purpose Multi-Purpose Substrate Support Unit (USSP) that will replace the Anteo Ship, for submarine rescue and support for Special Forces operations, as well as for hydro-oceanographic research with the complementary equipment of a mini-submarine. Global charges of around € 390 million. For the support of the program the initial contribution in thefirst three-year period 2013-2015 of about 50 million € with resources from the Ministry of Education, University and Search / CNR. Charges from 2016 are based on the ordinary defense budget. Completion expected in 2022.

The SDO SuRS (Special & Diving Operations Submarine Rescue Ship) previously known as ARS / NAI (USSUP) is instead destined to replace Anteo, which is close to 40 years of service, with a total charge of 424 million euros (distributed over 12 years) starting from 2018. In the field of underwater operations, the Comsubin has unique capabilities in the Mediterranean, to which the US Navy itself looks, with areas of employment from the Mare Nostrum to the polar areas. Also in this case the manufacturer will be Fincantieri with the industrial and national research chain.

The Anteo ship, operational since 1980, is equipped to carry out rescue and rescue operations in favor of personnel of damaged ships and in particular of submarines damaged in the fund. The unit is prepared for the firefighting operations competition, the localization of hulls and submerged objects, support for underwater operations. For the fulfillment of strictly underwater dutiesthe Antaeus is equipped with different systems and equipment that allow diving up to 300 meters and shipwreck recovery operations up to 120 meters.

In October 2010 the Navy program was aimed at the acquisition of a multi-purpose underwater support naval unit , with search and rescue tasks and support for raids for the replacement of the Anteo ship, which had reached the end of its operational life. As regards the operational aims of the program, the naval unit must ensure:

• the support for the operations of the Operational Group Underwater (GOS) of the Navy , including search and rescue in disaster submarines;
• The support for operations and training , underwater-amphibious connotation, the Operational Group Incursori (GOI) of the Navy ;
• the boarding capacity of a Special Forces Command .

As indicated in the explanatory note accompanying the program, the new naval unit must have characteristics that make it suitable for satisfying a series of requirements related to the aforementioned purposes. As regards search and rescue tasks, the ship must ensure the following capabilities:

• deployment, up to 600 meters depth, search and rescue of damaged submarines , with national and international inter-force command units, and use of hyperbaric systems for the medical treatment of 60 survivors ;
• boarding of international rescue mini-missiles , compatible with NATO and US systems;
• underwater inspection and safety at deep levels , of sites of strategic importance (oil platforms, oil pipelines, marine pipelines);
• search, removal and destruction of explosive devices , up to the depth reached by embarked vehicles
• research and inspection of artifacts and wrecks up to1,000 meters depth and conduct of underwater work in general.

As regards the tasks to support the raiders, the potentials of the ship include:

• the provision or embarkation of systems suitable for carrying out operational and training activities of special forces of the Navy;
• the transport and projection of the sea and the sea of men, military and media ;
• the ability to embark a projectable Special Forces Command , in a national and international context;
• conduct of research and experiments related to the development of new armaments or equipment;
• transport of special materials and equipment.

As specified in the explanatory notes accompanying the request for an opinion in question, the technical characteristics required of the new unit include:

• a propulsion system that allows a maximum continuous speed of 16 knots, an autonomy of5,000 miles, a high maneuver capacity and a system for dynamic positioning;
• a diving facility with equipment that reaches the depth of600 meters, including: a submarine rescue vehicle (SRV), a hyperbaric system that can be transferred by means of an SRV and other tools for carrying out the assistance to damaged submarines, including a ventilation system, a bell and a diving suit;
• sonar system with detection capability up to a depth of1,000 metersand radar navigation systems (anti-collision) and surface discovery (naval situation monitoring);
• systems telecommunications and command and control can allow any Special Forces Command boarded or border control to operate both in the national context and internationally, as well as for real-time management of the ship and underwater operations activities;
• a weapon system equipment suitable for combating threats from every direction.

Finally, the configuration of the naval unit and of the endowment instruments will have to guarantee full interoperability with all the assets of the NATO navies that are renewing the units of a similar type. For the program under review, the Defense Staff Register contains an expected duration of seven years , beginning in 2010 and ending in 2017, but the attached explanatory note specifies instead that the construction of the naval unit should be launched in 2011 and it should finish in 2015, to allow the replacement of the Anteo ship, which would arrive in that year at the end of its operational life.

The cost of the program is estimated at around 125 million euros and should be financed, as the explanatory statement reports, through allocations taken from the ordinary budget of the Ministry of Defense. The program, which does not envisage forms of international cooperation , will involve the shipbuilding industry and the specialized sector relating to the design and development of submarine rescue vehicles. The explanatory note states that, in order to limit the design costs, it is preferable to choose the platform from those commercially available, for which the project has already been defined and the production line has been started.