Fincantieri has announced that it has signed a strategic agreement to accelerate the development of autonomous surface units by Defcomm, an Italian startup specialized in unmanned solutions for the maritime sector, thus confirming the intention of the Trieste-based shipbuilding group “to boost technological innovation through collaboration with emerging and excellent realities with investments in new critical skills to consolidate its industrial leadership, particularly in the field of high-tech dual-use unmanned solutions”.
In detail, the agreement focuses on a co-investment deal to accelerate the development and industrialization of the surface drones designed by Defcomm, which have already passed long run and endurance tests. These drones are designed for surveillance, intelligence, and patrol missions and are distinguished by their high operational flexibility, being able to operate in fully autonomous mode, remote-guided, and manual control, as well as by their high performance in terms of speed.
This agreement will also allow Fincantieri to develop and integrate deployment capabilities for autonomous surface vehicles on its naval units, for both domestic and international customers. The collaboration between Fincantieri and Defcomm will also support the upcoming training activities during which the advanced capabilities of the platforms and their interoperability in complex scenarios will be presented.
Pierroberto Folgiero, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of Fincantieri, stated:”This synergy confirms Fincantieri’s role as a leader in innovation and a growth engine for the entire national naval industrial ecosystem, capable of catalyzing the development of new technologies and anticipating the needs of a competitive and rapidly evolving global market such as that of surface drones. Collaborations with highly innovative and high-potential realities like Defcomm also demonstrate the Group’s intention to promote, also through talent and collaboration with Start-ups and SMEs, cutting-edge solutions for the technological transformation of the naval sector and for a rapid evolution of the Italian industrial base, strengthening its strategic autonomy and technological sovereignty by enhancing the best that exists in our country”.
Federico Zarghetta, an entrepreneur in the field of satellite communications on the move and high-performance unmanned naval automation for over thirty years, states:”This marriage is the natural evolution of my continuous pursuit of innovation, continuous improvement and adaptation to the increasingly demanding requests of the market and international competition. Just as Fincantieri is the undisputed world leader in cruise and military ships, I am certain that Defcomm with Fincantieri will be able to achieve the highest challenge of the coming years, that of bringing to Italy in the shortest possible time the leadership in the hi-tech of high-performance marine surface drones. I chose Fincantieri because since I was young it has always proven to be the most competitive company and capable of constantly representing Italian excellence in the world in this reference sector in which I have invested my entire professional life in continuous research and continuous proven innovation. By uniting our complementary capabilities and our strengths, we will position ourselves at the top of the world competition in this new and promising domain”.
