Andrea Doria first to be upgraded under Horizon MLU

OCCAR, Naviris and Eurosam signed a second annex to the agreement to modernise the four warships – two French Horizon frigates and two Italian Orizzonte destroyers. On the basis of this, work on the first Italian ship, destroyer, is to begin at the end of September. Andrea Doria.

As announced on 7 August by the Organisation for Armed Cooperation (OCCAR), the signed amendment amends the agreement necessary for the launch of the next stage of Horizon Mid-Life Upgrade, covering work already carried out directly on the first Italian ship.

Andrea Doria first in line

The most important element of the signed amendment is the creation of the basis for starting work directly on the first Italian ship of the program, referred to as FOC IT. It's a destroyer. Andrea Doriaafter which the twin will be upgraded Caio Duilio. On the French side, the programme includes air defence frigates Forbin and Chevalier Paul.

Horizon MLU Program enters the same stage of work carried out directly on the first ship. Preparations to this point continued for several years. A critical review of the project was completed in April 2025, which meant moving from the design phase to further development.

The next important step was to install the first Kronos Grand Naval radar on December 17, 2025 at the DGA's land integration station in Saint-Mandrier, France. The radar was mounted on the design of the ship's image mast, where, together with other elements of the future combat system, it undergoes integration and qualifying tests before installation on the units covered by the Horizon MLU programme.

The original contract for the modernization of four ships was signed in July 2023 and was worth about EUR 1.5 billion. According to the current schedule, the first Italian destroyer is to be handed over after modernization by the end of 2027, while the second in mid-2029. French frigates should return to service at the end of 2029 and 2030 respectively.

New Aster radars and missiles

The biggest changes will include air defense and radio-electronic combat. France and Italy have chosen not only to replace equipment whose technical capabilities are no longer in line with modern requirements but to re-engineer the entire system for detecting and combating air purposes.

The new generation of PAAMS & LRR will be equipped with Aster 30 Block 1 NT anti-aircraft missiles, upgraded launchers and two new AESA radars. The multifunctional Kronos Grand Naval will provide Leonardo, while SMART-L MM/N production of Thales will be responsible for long-distance airspace surveillance. The whole will be tensed by a new command and control system based on open software architecture.

Kronos Grand Naval will be responsible, among others, for detecting and tracking targets and cooperating with Aster missiles. By Leonardo radar can simultaneously observe airspace and water space and control multiple targets, which is of particular importance when resisting massive strokes.

The system is to be prepared to combat a wide spectrum of modern threats: aircraft, unmanned aircraft, maneuvering missiles and antishippers flying at low altitude, as well as ballistic missiles. Constructors from the beginning assume the possibility of acting during a mass attack, when the ship must almost simultaneously detect, classify and fight targets coming from different directions.

It's no longer a simple exchange of electronics.

In this case, the term "modernization in the middle of the service life" may be a little confusing, because it is not only about replacing devices that, after several years of service, begin to age. The French and Italians are rebuilding practically the entire air defence chain – from target detection, through its tracking and risk assessment to the launch of an adequate anti-aircraft missile.

Such a wide range of changes is mainly due to the nature of the threats that a modern air defense vessel may encounter during activities at sea. Low-flying anti-ship missile, unmanned system or ballistic missile require other means of detection and reaction, and during the mass attack they can appear almost simultaneously. Therefore, the new radar or a more modern missile alone is not enough if they are not part of the efficient and integrated combat system.

Therefore, Horizon MLU is much more interesting than the information on the signing of the second annex to the contract could suggest. The four ships are not a numerous series, but they are among the most important European vessels intended to defend the air force teams. France and Italy have therefore decided to undergo a deep modernisation which is intended to maintain their high combat capabilities until the end of their lifetime and prepare them to combat threats which were first taken into account several years ago in the arms system design phase, and today they are a real problem for marines.