Italy - DDX 10,000-ton
The "Navy Development Plan for 2019-2034" issued by the Italian Ministry of Defense clearly stated that the main combat ships of the Italian Navy in the future will include 1 aircraft carrier, 1 amphibious assault ship, 3 amphibious dock landing ships, 4 destroyers and 10 ships. Frigate. This naval fleet now seems to be weaker, but this is in sharp contrast to Britain and France, which largely lack destroyers. After all, the quality and quantity of ships are close to other countries.
Especially among the destroyers, Italy has recently allocated funds to build two large destroyers with 10,000 tons. Although the demand for destroyers in Western European countries is not high at this time, Italy has formulated a construction zone for the 10,000-ton large guided missile destroyer that does not match the image: 2 DDX destroyers will be produced to compensate for the 2 "Horizon" class destroyers. Insufficient number and replacement of the "Drapani" class destroyers equipped in the 1990s. The quantity is relatively small, and the construction has a certain period. In general, this 10,000-ton large drive will sign a construction contract in 2023, and all subsystems will be designed around 2025. The construction will be completed and launched before 2028, and the first ship will be commissioned around 2030. In terms of schedule and efficiency of Italian defense construction, such a shipbuilding plan is quite feasible.
In 2020 the Italian Navy started a preliminary study for a new class (DDX) of surface vessels, with a displacement of up to 10,000 tons. The destroyer was expected to have a length of 175 meters, a beam of 24 meters and a draft of 9 meters, and a crew of more than 300 people. The new class will operate with CODOGAL (COmbined Diesel Or Gas And eLectric) propulsion system, ie with either turbines or diesel engines plus the ability to operate at low speeds, while the maximum speed is estimated at 30 knots. It will adopt a comprehensive all-electric propulsion system and use gas turbines for power generation. The design of the hull is quite sophisticated: the shape is very simple, multiple active phased array radars are arranged above the bridge, and a large early warning radar is arranged on the rear mast.
The armament is predicted to be particularly heavy with 48 cells of Aster 15/30 vertical launch missiles, possibly Scalp Naval. The cells would be in 6 octupal launchers, 2 in the bow and 4 in the center of the boat. Other reports speak of 48 cells in the center and 16 in the bow. The surface-to-surface missiles will be from 8 to 16 Teseo MK2 EVOs with a range of more than 300 kilometers, but we assume that all the corresponding weapons of the western arsenal (NSM, Harpoon, Exoset) can be utilized. The vessel will have a large hangar capable of supporting two helicopters of size SH90 or EH101, torpedo launch system, tornado sonar and sliding, while the main radar will be a version of Leonardo KRONOS, AESA technology, which is already used in the Italian FREMM.
In addition to anti-aircraft weapons, another important weapon is anti-ship weapons. Combining these missiles, only anti-ship missiles are outstanding in terms of missiles: the "Teseo" MK2 anti-ship missile with a maximum range of 360 kilometers has a warhead weighing up to 210 kilograms. It can not only perform anti-ship missions, but also use it. To attack the ground. On the whole, this missile still has some attack capabilities; as for the ship-to-air missile, it appears to be somewhat inadequate for a dignified 10,000-ton large destroyer.
The main cannon will be the well-known 127 mm Leonardo Vulcano while 3 Leonardo Strales of 76 mm, two in the center plus one above the stern at the stern will take over the surface coverage and anti-aircraft. This layout with 4 naval guns is quite original but looks like an evolution of a similar layout of 3 76 mm guns, of the Andrea Doria destroyer class, again of the Italian Navy.
The ship’s traditional naval gun equipment is quite "prosperous": it is different from the combination of large-caliber main guns + small-caliber high-speed near-anti-guns. The 10,000-ton big drive uses one Otto Melera 127mm naval gun and three Otto Melera 76mm rapid-fire naval guns. This is now extremely unconventional: since World War II, there seems to be no one. The country is keen to adopt the configuration of multiple medium-caliber secondary guns + one large-caliber main gun. Generally, large warships are equipped with a naval gun as standard, and there are indeed many secondary guns for the Italian destroyer.
The mission positioning of the three Otto Melera 76mm rapid-fire naval guns is obviously to balance air, ground and sea. The damage of the 76mm medium-caliber shells is not weak, and the programmed shells are sufficient to complete ground and sea missions; it just makes the ship's anti-missile at the end slightly insufficient. However, the programmed artillery shells can be equipped with "Aster-15" near-defense missiles from 16 kilometers to conduct multi-wave anti-missile. The maximum rate of fire of Otto Melera's 76mm rapid-fire naval gun has reached 120 rounds/min. There are three Otto Melera 76mm rapid-fire naval guns, two are distributed on both sides of the hangar, and one is arranged in the B gun position. The firing angle covers 360° around the hull, and there is a 75% probability that it can intercept The target is in the firing angle of 2 naval guns. Although such a match may seem unconventional, there is no shortage of feasible points. The perfect coordination of artillery and air defense missiles can enhance the air defense capabilities of the entire warship.
The design, at least as seen from the original specifications, is a logical development of the Italian experience on large surface vessels (FREMM and Andrea Dorio) as it combines well-known and tested systems (with any improvement) with greater displacement. Thus enabling the Italian Navy to create well-protected formations with the ability to intervene over long distances and for extended periods.
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