The ''Sirio'' class of

patrol vessel A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and th ...

s consists of two units operated by the Italian Navy named ''Costellazioni II series'' or ''Nuove Unità di Pattugliamento d'Altura (NUPA)''. These vessels were financed by the Italian Department of Transport and Navigation, under law 413/1998, for maritime economic zone surveillance, antipollution, and rescue operations.

Description

The construction of these units is based largely on that of the Nuove Unità Minori Combattenti (NUMC); the

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

and

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

incorporate

stealth Stealth may refer to: Military *Stealth technology, technology used to conceal ships, aircraft, and missiles **Stealth aircraft, aircraft which use stealth technology **Stealth ground vehicle, ground vehicles which use stealth technology ** Stea ...

features. The NUMC and Nuove Unità di Pattugliamento d'Altura (NUPA) share

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

interoperability Interoperability is a characteristic of a product or system to work with other products or systems. While the term was initially defined for information technology or systems engineering services to allow for information exchange, a broader def ...

, features of the combat system and integrated

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than tha ...

systems. Each unit has two

Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include technol ...

NSD- W12-26 V-XN

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

s providing to two variable-pitch propellers. The ships have a top speed of and a range of at . Three

Isotta Fraschini Isotta Fraschini () was an Italian luxury car manufacturer, also producing trucks, as well as engines for marine and aviation use. Founded in Milan, Italy, in 1900 by Cesare Isotta and the brothers Vincenzo, Antonio, and Oreste Fraschini, in 19 ...

1708 T2 M2

diesel generator A diesel generator (DG) (also known as a diesel Genset) is the combination of a diesel engine with an electric generator (often an alternator) to generate electrical energy. This is a specific case of engine generator. A diesel compression-i ...

s each power the on-board electronics. The

armament A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

consists of two Oerlikon KBA-Alenia

Oto Melara OTO Melara was a subsidiary of the Italian company Finmeccanica, today Leonardo, active in the defence sector, with factories in Brescia and La Spezia. The Mod 56 pack howitzer, in service throughout the world, and the 76mm naval gun, ...

/80 guns with the provision to bow mount an

OTO Melara OTO Melara was a subsidiary of the Italian company Finmeccanica, today Leonardo, active in the defence sector, with factories in Brescia and La Spezia. The Mod 56 pack howitzer, in service throughout the world, and the 76mm naval gun, ...

/62 Super Rapid gun. Each unit can embark a single

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribut ...

, either an AB-212 ASW or SH-90A NFH, but the ships lack hangars. For antipollution roles, vessels are fitted with: skimmers, of recovered oils tankers, of chemical dispersants and one chemical laboratory.

Ships

The two units, built in

Muggiano Lerici ( lij, Lerxi, locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of La Spezia in Liguria (northern Italy), part of the Italian Riviera. It is situated on the coast of the Gulf of La Spezia, southeast of La Spezia. It is known as the pla ...

and

Riva Trigoso Riva may refer to: People * Riva (surname) * Riva Castleman (1930–2014), American art historian, art curator and author * Riva Ganguly Das (born 1961), Indian diplomat * Riva (footballer), Brazilian former footballer Rivadávio Alves Pereira (b ...

bear the names of two

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of s ...

s of the

Italian Royal Navy The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946, birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' ch ...

. These units operate in conjunction with NUMC COMSQUAPAT1 of COMFORPAT, the Forces Command patrol for surveillance and Coastal Defence and have their operational base in

Augusta Augusta may refer to: Places Australia * Augusta, Western Australia Brasil * Rua Augusta (São Paulo) Canada * Augusta, Ontario * North Augusta, Ontario * Augusta Street (Hamilton, Ontario) France * Augusta Suessionum ("Augusta of the Suessi ...

. They serve as coastal patrol and traffic control, cargo and surveillance in immigration control.

References

External links

Pattugliatori Classe Sirio (PBH)
Marina Militare website {{Ship classes of the Marina Militare, noshipclass=yes Ships built by Fincantieri Patrol ship classes 2002 ships Patrol vessels of the Italian Navy