The Thaon di Revel-class surface combatants are hard to define.
According to Italian Navy, they are offshore patrol vessels.
But they can quickly turn into first-line warships.
As the Weapon Detective, we are now investigating the Thaon di Revel class, another example
of modular surface combatant design.
The Thaon di Revel class, also known as PPA, combines the Italian beauty of art and state-of-art
technology.
PPA comes from the initials of the "Pattugliatore Polivalente d'Altura", meaning "Multipurpose
Offshore Patrol Vessel".
Its modular design offers many advantages, but can it fulfil the initial goals?
Before answering this question, let's briefly look at the history and features of the vessel.
In the early 2010s, the Italian Navy scheduled the decommissioning of the Soldati-class frigates
and Minerva-class corvettes.
The new Bergamini-class frigates were primarily designed for use in carrier battle groups,
which made them big, complex, and expensive.
However, the Italian Navy needed a simple and low-cost solution to replace Soldati-class
and Minevrva-class vessels.
The new surface combatant would be operated more individually as patrol ships.
Their main tasks would be the surveillance of larger areas, the protection of civil shipping
against asymmetric threats, the implementation of an embargo, evacuation, and law-enforcement
operations.
They would also support rescue organizations in disaster relief and sea rescue operations.
So, the Italian company Fincantieri began the design work of the PPA.
The new vessel was unveiled at Euronaval 2014 first time.
One year later, Rome approved the project.
The first ship of the class, Paolo Thaon di Revel, was laid down on May 9, 2017, launched
on June 15, 2019, and commissioned on March 18, 2022.
Initially, Italy planned to build 16 Thaon di Revel-class offshore patrol vessels.
But, in 2015, it reduced the number to 10 ships, including three options.
The options were abandoned in May 2021 in favour of eight planned European Patrol Corvettes.
The Thaon di Revel class has a design with a low radar cross-section.
The hull is made of steel.
The stepped double bow of the vessel improves the seakeeping by lengthening the waterline
and also reduces fuel consumption.
The superstructure is made of aluminium alloy.
Thanks to augmented reality technologies, all ship and engine control, self-defence
and attack functions are managed from a single room in the bridge of the Thaon di Revel class.
This design increases operational efficiency and reduces reaction time and number of crew.
The amidships is an open-plan multipurpose area with davits capable of launching rigid
inflatable boats up to 11 meters long and a ship crane for containers up to 20 tons.
It is also suitable to carry eight ISO containers with a maximum of 120 tons.
Besides, the 25.5 metres-long and 16.5 metres-wide helipad can accommodate five additional ISO
containers.
The hangar can house two NH90s or one AW101.
There is a ramp below the helipad to launch and pick up boats, unmanned surface vehicles,
or remotely operated underwater vehicles.
The vessel has a bow thruster, which makes docking operations easy.
The Thaon di Revel class has three variants; Light, Light+, and Full.
Thanks to the highly modular design of the vessel, these variants can be quickly converted
into another one.
The Light version is suitable for coastal patrols and law-enforcement operations at
sea.
It carries a 2-megawatt power plant and an 800-cubic meter drinking water tank for humanitarian
or civil protection missions following natural disasters.
This variant also has medical facilities and a living compartment for 53 passengers.
The Light+ version is suitable for coastal patrol, support and combat roles.
The Full variant is a first-line surface combatant, which can be described as a frigate rather
than an offshore patrol vessel.
The composition of the dual-band AESA 3D Kronos radar of the Thaon di Revel class changes
due to variant.
This radar has four fixed panels.
Each includes two radar panels, one in C-band and one in X-band.
The C-band panels are for surveillance and tracking of anti-ballistic missiles and aircraft
at medium to long range.
It is also used for guidance of the Aster missiles.
The X-band panels are for surface surveillance and short-range aircraft surveillance and
tracking.
The Full variant is equipped with the complete system.
But the Light+ has only the C-band panels while the Light has only the X-band.
All vessels have the SPS-732 low-probability-of-intercept air and ground surveillance radar and an X/Ka
dual-band navigation radar.
The Full variant has the ATAS variable depth sonar and the Black Snake towed array sonar
for anti-submarine warfare missions, which the others do not have.
All versions have a diver detection sonar.
Initially, the Italian Navy planned to have two Light, three Light+, and two Full variants.
But, in 2022, it declared the first two Light version ships, Paolo Thaon di Revel and Francesco
Morosini, will be converted to the Full standards.
The complement of the Thaon di Revel class changes depending on the variant.
The number of the crew of Ligh and Light+ is 90, while the Full is 120.
The ship has a length of 143 metres and a beam of 16.5 metres.
The light displacements of the Light, Light+ and Full variants are 4.880, 4.912, and 4.994
tons, respectively.
Their fully-loaded displacements are 5.830, 5.880 and 6.270 tons.
The combined diesel and gas configuration propulsion system consists of one 43,000-horsepower
TAG General Electric/Avio gas turbine and two 13,000-horsepower MTU 20V 8000 M91L diesel
engines.
The ship also has one 740-horsepower bow thruster.
The top speed of the Thaon di Revel class is 32 knots.
The range is nearly 9,300 kilometres, in other words, 5,000 nautical miles.
The armament of the Thaon di Revel class changes depending on the variant.
But the gun armament is the same for all of them.
The 127mm LW127 gun has a rate of fire of 32 rounds per minute and a range of 30 kilometres
with a standard munition.
But also, it can fire the Vulcano guided rounds with 120 kilometres range.
The 76mm Strales can fire the Dart guided projectiles against aircraft and sea-skimming
missiles.
The 42mm submunition of the Dart has moveable wings at the front and six fixed wings at
the rear.
So, it can perform 40 g manoeuvres, and its effective range is 8 kilometres.
The Thaon di Revel class has two 25mm KBA 25/80 guns with a rate of fire of 570 rounds
per minute and a range of up to 2 kilometres.
The ship also has four 12.7mm machine guns.
All variants can be fitted with up to eight Teseo Mk2/Es, even though they do not carry
them as a standard.
This anti-ship missile also has land attack capability.
The Mk2/E with a dual-mode radar and electro-optic homing system has a range of over 350 kilometres.
Two eight-cell SYLVER A50 vertical launching system is not installed on the Light variant.
But, the Italian Navy decided to also equip these two ships with them soon.
The Light+ and Full versions already have these vertical launching systems.
The SYLVER A50 can launch both Aster 15 and Aster 30 air defence missiles.
The anti-ballistic missile defence-capable Aster 30 with a 20-kilometre effective range
has a speed of Mach 4.5.
The Aster 15 has a 13-kilometre effective range.
It has a speed of Mach 3.
The Light and Light+ variants do not have 324mm triple B-515 torpedo launchers.
However, these vessels can be quickly fitted with them as needed.
The B-515s are among the standard equipment of the Full version.
It can launch 324mm Black Arrow lightweight torpedoes.
Thanks to its rechargeable battery with lithium-polymer technology, this torpedo can be launched many
times.
So, it eliminates the necessity of the use of training torpedoes.
The effective depth of the Black Arrow is between 30 to 200 metres.
To better understand the Thaon di Revel class, we should look at the historical journey of
modern frigates and destroyers.
The early examples of destroyers had a fully-loaded displacement of less than 300 tons.
Today, they exceed 10,000 tons.
When we mention frigates, we do not obviously talk about a type of sailing ship.
The term "frigate" was readopted during the Second World War for lightweight anti-submarine
warfare escorts.
Their early examples were heavier than just 1,000 tons.
Current ones are between 3,000 to 7,000 tons.
Some examples are close to 10,000 tons.
Why have these surface combatants constantly got bigger and heavier?
Originally, the first destroyers were called torpedo boat destroyers.
Their job was to protect bir battleships and battlecruisers from torpedo boats.
Having a quick-fire small-calibre gun was enough for it.
Then some naval staff demanded to fit these ships with torpedo launchers so they could
attack the battleships and battlecruisers.
Later, a new menace emerged, the submarine.
So, the destroyer had to be fitted with depth charge throwers.
And engineers developed the ASDIC system and sonar.
So, destroyers had to carry them.
Then the radars, missiles, close-in weapon systems and helicopters emerged.
The destroyer had to carry all of them.
And a similar story has also gone on for the frigates.
Getting bigger, heavier, and more expensive was inevitable for them.
So, the navies began to seek more cost-effective solutions for low-intensity missions.
But, having two different types of surface combat, one for low-intensity missions, and
the other for first-line roles, was also expensive.
Many countries have worked on modular vessels since the 1980s to solve this problem.
A single configurable platform could be operated on all types of missions.
The Thaon di Revel class was created according to this design philosophy.
Italy needed a new ship to deal with illegal migration, piracy, and environmental disasters.
They could also perform disaster relief missions.
An offshore patrol vessel was the most suitable and cost-effective solution for such operations.
But they could be quickly converted to first-line warships in case of war.
To achieve this goal, the Italian naval engineers used the advantages of modularity.
But in the end, can we say the Thaon di Revel class is a cheap and simple solution?
The current frigates of many navies are less capable than the new Italian offshore patrol
vessels.
Yes, the Thaon di Revel class is cheaper than the Bergamini class.
But also, there are many modern offshore patrol vessels that are less expensive.
It seems the Italian Navy realized this handicap too.
Italy, which initially planned to build 16 vessels, reduced the number to ten.
Then it gave up three optional 6,000-ton Thaon di Revel class ships in favour of 3,000-ton
European Patrol Corvettes.
It is hard to say the Thaon di Revel class is a failure like the Littoral Combat Ship
Programme is.
It is partially successful.
In our opinion, these offshore patrol vessels are far from answering the initial goal.
They are only successful as being low-cost and less capable frigates.
So far, we may say that only Denmark, the creator of Lego, has been able to design a
properly working modular surface combatant.
Again, we do not assert that the Thaon di Revel class is a complete failure.
It is partly successful as an offshore patrol vessel but a good and efficient surface combatant.
We may even say it is currently the most successful low-cost frigate.
Thanks for watching our video.
And please don't forget to subscribe to our channel and click the bell button to be notified
of our new videos.
Also, you can now click the join button to support our channel.
And as always, we would greatly appreciate all of your likes, comments, and shares.