On 16 April, Fincantieri and Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) signed an industrial collaboration agreement to offer U-212 NFS submarines to the Philippine Navy. Fincantieri is currently building 4 U-212 NFS submarines for the Italian Navy at its shipyards in Italy.

The agreement provides for cooperation between the two companies for the supply of an unspecified number of vessels as part of the HORIZON III modernisation programme launched by Manila. The new partnership with TKMS is based on the consolidated experience of collaboration between the two groups, gained with the U-212A programme and continued with the U-212 NFS programme, and aims to integrate their respective technological expertise to offer the Philippine Navy – as highlighted in Fincantieri's press release – a modern, efficient and competitive underwater capability.

The agreement also clarifies the mechanisms governing the export of the U-212 NFS and the role of TKMS, which retains responsibility for certain areas of the submarine design, such as the critical automatic torpedo launch system and Amanox steel (produced by Deutsche Edelstahlwerke GmbH and processed by TKMS).

Currently, the Philippine Armed Forces do not have a submarine fleet. In this context, the agreement also provides for the involvement of the Italian Navy, which will provide essential operational support in terms of training, doctrinal development and logistics.

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