Saturday 25 May saw the launch ceremony of frigate EMILIO BIANCHI at Fincantieri's Riva Trigoso (GE) shipyard. The ceremony was held in the presence of the Navy's Chief of Staff, Rear-Admiral Enrico Credendino, who was welcomed by Fincantieri's President, General Claudio Graziano, and the General Manager of Fincantieri's Military Ships Division, Dario Deste. Among others, the President of the Regional Council, Gianmarco Medusei, the Director of OCCAR-EA, Joachim Sucker, and civil and military authorities also attended. Following the launch, the unit will continue outfitting activities at the Muggiano shipyard, in La Spezia, and will be delivered in the summer of 2025. EMILIO BIANCHI is the second FREMM ASW Enhanced vessel, i.e. a vessel featuring the same capabilities of FREMM ASW type, yet with some General Purpose equipment. The ship is the latest in a series of 10 FREMMs commissioned by the Italian Navy as part of the Italian-French international cooperation agreement under the coordination of OCCAR, the Joint Organisation for European Armament Cooperation. The two ASW Enhanced frigates, represent the 9th and 10th FREMM and are intended to replace the two frigates previously ceded to Egypt. In detail, just like the SPARTACO SCHERGAT, the EMILIO BIANCHI is equipped with the entire ASW package typical of the FREMM antisubmarine frigates (TUS 4249 sonar, SLAT anti-torpedo system, etc.) to which is added, at the bow, the 127/64 mm LW VULCANO cannon, one of the distinguishing features of the FREMM General Purpose (the other ASWs, in fact, have a second 76/62 mm system). In addition, a series of improvements have been added to the two vessels, compared to the previous eight, including the new electronic warfare (EW) suite, supplied entirely by ELT (and no longer by the Sigen consortium, i.e. ELT plus the French company Thales) and based on the one installed on the Multipurpose Patrol Vessels (PPAs), as well as a new generation satellite communication antennas.