There is not yet a precise date, yet everything suggests that the delivery of the Triton ship to the Navy is truly imminent. Thus, what is already an event full of practical and symbolic significance becomes even more interesting in this specific case. The unit about to enter service is a Multipurpose Unit for Underwater Dimension Surveillance (UPSDS), the first of its kind.
But that’s not all, because the other novelty lies in the fact that the Navy has adopted an “aggressive” approach for it, purchasing this platform directly from the civilian market and then subjecting it to adaptation work for its future assigned missions. An innovative choice, aimed at quickly obtaining this new unit. After all, faced with urgent operational needs and the simultaneous necessity to gain experience (which could be useful in the future for building new ships), the chosen path seems both correct and inevitable.
WHY SUCH A UNIT?
When in mid-July last year the Naval Armaments Directorate (NAVARM) published a “preliminary consultation notice” for the purchase on the used market of a ship to be employed precisely as a UPSDS, the information was relatively scarce. Rather generically, it spoke of a platform whose primary purpose would be to transport and deploy underwater as well as surface vehicles (“manned” and especially “unmanned”), adapting its use to different functions, ensuring flexibility and rapid reconfiguration according to needs.
Only in the following August, when NAVARM itself announced the “determination to contract” (thus officially launching the program), was the specific chapter added regarding the capacity to deploy assets for rescuing distressed submarines. In both documents, however, an interesting point emerges: the program’s heading is “Protection of critical underwater infrastructures.”
Here we arrive at the crucial point, which to be better understood requires going back to September 2022; when the whole world was suddenly “shaken” by the news of the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea. Suddenly, everyone discovered the importance (and fragility) of certain critical infrastructures located on the seabeds of seas and oceans worldwide; whether for transporting energy sources or the “backbones” of communication between countries and entire continents, it made no difference.
The Nord Stream incident and other subsequent events clearly highlighted the need to carefully assess the security requirements related to these infrastructures; reflecting on the fact that the great depths at which they lie are no longer sufficient to guarantee their safety. Hence the necessity for Navies to radically address the new reality of “seabed warfare”; equipping themselves accordingly.
THE UPSDS
In the end, much of the information needed to better understand what kind of platform is being discussed can be found precisely in the notice issued by NAVARM last July. First of all, it is noted that from that document the Navy’s choice for the unit’s procurement (intended as purchase on the used market and subsequent adaptation work) already emerges, with the contract directly awarded to Fincantieri. The overall financial commitment is also defined, €50 million, and the delivery time; February 2026 or, alternatively, no later than 120 days from the actual signing of the contract.
The above notice also provides a series of requirements that the new unit must meet; some “mandatory,” others “desirable.” Among the former: an overall length between 75 and 110 meters, a maximum width between 18 and 22 meters, and a draft not exceeding 7 meters, a maximum speed over 11 knots (with a range of 4,000 miles), an integrated system for propulsion and electric power generation, a working deck area of at least 560 m², a class 2 dynamic positioning system, accommodation for 60 berths (crew and additional personnel), and a crane with a maximum capacity of 40 tons. The “desirable” requirements include a flight deck, the presence/provisions for a “moon pool,” and a second crane.
THE CHOICE IS MADE
We thus arrive at the end of January, when the first rumors began circulating; the unit chosen to meet the UPSDS requirement is the Coco, a “Multi-Purpose Offshore Support Vessel” built by Vard Shipyards (owned by Fincantieri) in Vietnam in 2022. Therefore, a very recent ship perfectly capable of meeting another important “mandatory” requirement; a construction no earlier than 2015, to have a recent platform with a good residual life margin.
The analysis of the future Triton’s characteristics tells us it fully meets all the requests. Its length is indeed 81.7 meters, maximum width 18 meters, and draft 5.7 meters.
The propulsion/electric power generation system is, precisely, integrated as it consists of 4 diesel generators and 2 “Azipull” units. The overall performance figures (speed and range) are not known, but obviously, everything suggests they meet the indicated requirements.
Besides the availability of a 570 m² loading deck, a series of features functional to the missions of this future Navy unit are very important. First, the dynamic positioning system, essential for safe and precise launching/recovery operations of any type of equipment; and more specifically, drones. Then, there is a stern crane equipped with winches, also functional for drone operations or others, as well as the “moon pool” (an opening on the loading deck to lower additional systems/equipment from above).
In fact, nothing is missing; since there is also accommodation capacity for 60 people. Or rather, almost nothing is missing; one of the “desirable” requirements, the presence of a helicopter flight deck, should not be met. It remains to be seen what kind of work the Coco/Triton has undergone at the Fincantieri shipyards in Palermo and what its exact final configuration will be.
THE FUTURE
The start of this program thus marks another turning point. The UPSDS in question is only the first step of a program that, at full capacity, should lead to the construction of 4 new units of this type, which will be built from the start according to all necessary requirements. A program that found its first significant refinancing precisely in 2025 and currently has resources amounting to €253.4 million; however, given its importance, this figure will surely be increased in the future. So much so that already in the first half of the next decade, the Navy will likely be able to deploy all 4 new ships planned; thus making a truly significant step forward on the delicate issue of underwater infrastructure protection.
Also because these units will not be alone; in various ways and functions, the count will soon include the Olterra ship (scheduled to enter service next year) as well as the 8 future New Generation Minehunters (CNG). The construction of another 4 New Generation Minehunters but of the Offshore type was also planned; however, the program was canceled to make room for the UPSDS. Finally, in the future, a UBoS (Unit for Underwater Clearance) should also arrive. As mentioned, different ships that, together with the 8 (or possibly 10) U-212 submarines in various versions that the Navy aims to align, will constitute a truly modern and capable component in the increasingly important field of “underwater warfare.”
