Muggiano, the Fincantieri shipyard at La Spezia, now holds the keels of two of Italy’s next submarines. The company held the keel-laying ceremony for the second U212NFS, short for Near Future Submarine, on Oct. 1, 2026, a little over seven months after the first. Fincantieri says the second boat is scheduled for delivery to the Italian Navy in 2030.
Both hulls belong to a program for four submarines and their logistic support, run on Italy’s behalf by OCCAR, the international organization that manages cooperative European defence programs. Fincantieri is the design authority and prime contractor. The company’s announcement named no officials at the ceremony and carried no quotes.
Fincantieri’s Oct. 1, 2026 release opens: “The keel-laying ceremony for the second next-generation U212NFS (Near Future Submarine) destined for the Italian Navy was held at Fincantieri’s Muggiano shipyard.” It states plainly: “Delivery of the second unit is scheduled for 2030.” The program, the release says, is “managed and entrusted to OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’Armement), the international organization responsible for managing cooperative programmes in the Defence sector.”
What separates the U212NFS from the U212A
The new boats are a development of the earlier U212A design. Fincantieri says the U212NFS improves on “its U212A predecessors, thanks to greater design maturity, a higher level of Italian-developed technology, and enhanced integration of onboard systems.”
The release names two headline changes: a lithium-ion propulsion battery and a new combat management system. Fincantieri says the changes bring gains in stealth, endurance, efficiency and cyber resilience. Those are the builder’s stated design goals; the first boat has not yet been delivered, so none has been demonstrated at sea.
The yard has history behind it. Per the Oct. 1 release, Muggiano has “more than a century of experience and over one hundred submarines built.”
Two keels in 2026
The second keel followed the first by a little over seven months. Fincantieri’s Feb. 27, 2026 release marked the first-of-class keel at the same yard, “as part of the program for the construction of four submarines and the development of related logistic support.” That release set the lead boat’s date: “Delivery of the first U212NFS is scheduled for 2029.”
The keel ceremony did not mark the start of construction on the second hull. Fincantieri announced in a June 6, 2023 release that production activities for the second boat had already begun at Muggiano that day, more than three years before its keel ceremony.
A delivery schedule that has moved
That 2023 release also recorded the program as it stood then: “The programme includes two vessels contracted in 2021 to be delivered in 2027 and 2029, a third submarine which has received parliamentary approval, as well as the creation of a Training Center.” By Fincantieri’s own 2026 releases, the two lead boats are now due in 2029 and 2030, and the program covers four submarines. The company’s announcements do not explain the change in dates.
The contract history starts with OCCAR. In a Feb. 26, 2021 announcement, the organization said the contract covered “two new submarines for the Italian Navy (plus two as an option),” along with “10 years support, and the new training system.” OCCAR listed “the new generation command and control system and the lithium ion batteries propulsion based system” among the design’s features, and said the first of class would be delivered 81 months after contract award.
The 2021 award therefore already carried room for a third and fourth hull. Neither Fincantieri nor OCCAR, in the pages read for this article, gives a date for when those options became firm.
The next step on the record is the first boat’s delivery, which Fincantieri schedules for 2029. The second, the hull begun with the Oct. 1, 2026 ceremony, is to follow in 2030.
Top image: The Italian Navy submarine ITS Salvatore Todaro (S 526), lead boat of the earlier U212A class, arrives at Naval Station Mayport, Florida, on July 11, 2008. Image Credit: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Regina L. Brown — Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Combat Rated editors prior to publication.