Italy has formally launched its next-generation destroyer programme after Orizzonte Sistemi Navali signed a contract worth about $4.2 billion with OCCAR for two DDX destroyers for the Italian Navy, MarineLink Maritime News reported on 24 September 2026.
The contract signing marks the official start of the DDX procurement, with Orizzonte Sistemi Navali identified as the prime industry partner on the project. The company is a joint venture owned by Fincantieri (51 per cent) and Leonardo (49 per cent).
OCCAR, the contract authority named in the announcement, will administer the agreement on behalf of the Italian Navy. The deal covers the design and construction of two DDX vessels, described by the reporting as next-generation destroyers.
The programme has been presented as a substantial national acquisition in scale and value. At roughly $4.2 billion for the two ships, the contract represents a major single procurement for Italy’s naval forces as set out in the published notice.
Contract and industrial partners
Orizzonte Sistemi Navali’s role as prime contractor formalises the participation of its shareholders, Fincantieri and Leonardo, in the DDX project. The joint venture structure was cited in the MarineLink report when describing the companies’ respective ownership stakes.
OCCAR’s involvement places the programme under an established multinational procurement agency’s administration, according to the published summary. The announcement identifies OCCAR as the contractual counterparty to Orizzonte for delivery of the two vessels.
Programme significance
The publicised arrangement confirms the Italian Navy as the recipient of the two ships under the DDX banner. The report frames the destroyers as part of Italy’s next-generation surface combatant capacity, reflecting a clear focus on fleet renewal.
Officials and industry representatives were not quoted in the supplied summary; the report instead presented the contract value, the parties involved and the buyer. Those facts form the sole verified details on which this notice is based.
The launch of the DDX programme will now move the project into the phases defined by the signed contract, with Orizzonte Sistemi Navali positioned to lead design and construction responsibilities in partnership with its shareholders. Further technical, scheduling or basing details were not provided in the source material.
The announcement is limited to the contract signing and the industrial composition of the prime contractor; it does not name the ships, provide delivery dates or outline capability specifics. Those items remain outside the documented facts supplied in the published summary.
The contract’s reported value and the involvement of major national shipbuilding and defence electronics firms underline the commercial scale of the programme. The DDX procurement will therefore be closely watched for its industrial and budgetary implications as further information becomes public.
MarineLink Maritime News carried the item on 24 September 2026, and that published account supplies the details set out here. No additional assertions beyond the report’s verified points have been made in this account.