Raimondo Montecuccoli (P432)

Il_Signor_Regio · June 30, 2025, 10:06pm

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Description: In 2014, the Italian Navy presented a new document called “Legge navale 2014-2015,” which introduced various projects for new units, one of them being a new multirole class of frigate-sized warships, the PPA (Pattugliatore Polivalente d’Altura, in English: Multipurpose Offshore Patrol Vessel). This class wasn’t similar to anything planned before, as it was supposed to replace any ship from the size of a small patrol vessel (Cassiopea class) to the aging DDG (Durand De la Penne class), with 16 units initially planned. This initial large number was reduced for the first time after the EPC (European Patrol Corvette) programme was started in 2019. This new class of corvettes, built together with other European nations, aimed to replace various classes the PPA was initially going to replace, thus making the initial order of 16 units redundant and unnecessary. The number of PPAs was then reduced to 10, even though it was 7 de facto plus 3 as an option, which probably won’t ever be executed, as another class of small patrol vessels was announced in 2023 (the PPX class), with a total of 6 units planned for now (and the option to increase such number to 10), which is also going to replace vessels that the PPA was initially going to replace (the same thing that happened with the EPC). This unit is the Raimondo Montecuccoli (P432), the third unit of the class and the first in the light + configuration. Compared to the light, the light + features the same basic armaments (the 127/64 main cannon on the bow, the 76/62 mm Sovraponte cannon over the heli hangar, two 25 mm OTO/Oerlikon guns on the side, and two single 324 mm torpedo launchers for the Italo/French MU90) with the addition of 16 Sylver A50 cells for Aster family missiles, the Aster 15/15 MLU, and the Aster 30/30 B1NT. These cells boost the air defense capabilities of the unit by a lot, giving it the same capacity as a Freem frigate. It also has a different radar configuration, featuring the C band but not the X band (installed on the light and full). She entered service in 2023, and like her sister ships, she has been attending to various missions all around the Mediterranean and outside it. It’s not clear if she will be converted to the full configuration in the future since apparently the Light+ are probably going to be kept in their current standard.

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