Fincantieri and Leonardo reorganize Orizzonte Sistemi Navali

On 9 October, Italian companies Fincantieri and Leonardo decided to reorganise Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, a joint venture, in order to better exploit new challenges in the international arena and strengthen its position in an increasingly competitive warship market.

The strengthening of complementary expertise created at national level to expand the presence on foreign markets will be carried out through the reorganisation of Orizzonte Sistemi Navali SpA (OSN), a joint venture owned by Fincantieri and Leonardo, respectively, of 51% and 49%. Othe parties intend to provide resources, which will allow OSN to assume responsibility for the development of ship-based combat systems and to define requirements for their subsystems and architecture of individual components, including combat management systems (CMS, Combat Management Systems). This Agreement provides the basis for further binding agreements to be negotiated by both parties in accordance with the applicable rules, including related parties' transactions and antitrust issues.

The development of the "ship as a system" concept is based on a long and successful history of cooperation in national and export programmes, which Fincantieri and Leonardo, world leaders in ship building, and in the creation and integration of CMS, weaponry, communications, radio and optoelectronic systems, have developed over the years. According to Giuseppe Bono, Fincantieri’s CEO, "there is an increasing need for cooperation between the two most important Italian defence companies. The signed agreement is a demonstration of our constant commitment and outlook for the future." Alessandro Profumo, CEO of Leonardo, stated that "Thanks to this agreement, Italy will present itself in an even more coherent and effective way on a very demanding market, raising all the high-tech skills that both companies have developed together. Orizzonte Sistemi Navali is the best way to encourage the development of the entire national supply chain, which contributes to the creation of ships, and by jointly offering products and services we will increase the competitiveness of Italian industry on the international market."

The renewed agreement will improve the existing model of cooperation between the two companies, which will enable them to perform their roles and responsibilities more effectively and define a common product strategy for the shipbuilding sector. Fincantieri will be the main contractor, a single user interface and will be responsible for the whole Warship Design Authority, and will therefore be responsible on behalf of Orizzonte Sistemi Navali for the platform architecture and its combat systems. Leonardo will be the preferred partner in the field of CMS and the equipment and armaments of a vessel. To this end, both companies agreed to set up permanent working groups to facilitate cooperation in developing new products for maritime units and optimizing supply chains.

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