Italian Logistics Support Ship Completes Initial Sea Trials

The future ITS Atlante, the second of up to four new Logistic Support Ships (LSS) being produced for the Italian Navy via OCCAR, has just successfully completed her first sea trials.

Six LSS vessels are being produced — initially two for Italy and four for France — in a programme managed by joint arms group OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d'ARmement, or Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation). 

The Marina Militare has an option to procure a third LSS ship too under the terms of the programme, which has been running since 2015. According to media reports, a potential fourth Italian LSS ship has since been mooted by the Italian Ministry of Defence.

The first Italian LSS vessel, ITS Vulcano, was delivered to the Italian Navy in March 2021, while FS Jacques Chevallier was delivered to the French Navy in 2023 and commissioned in November 2024. The second French ship in the programme, LSS Jacques Stosskopf, was launched in September 2024.

The €375 million double-hulled support ships have been designed with “dual-use” capabilities for both military operations and civilian disaster response missions. They have a cargo capacity of up to 15,500 tonnes and can refuel other ships, produce fresh water, carry cargo, conduct repairs at sea and provide medical care.

The Italian ships are being built by Fincantieri; the French ships by Chantiers de l'Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire.

As per the OCCAR website: “LSS is capable of supporting multiple missions, ranging from naval Joint Task Force to HQ afloat operations, providing medical support and transporting naval and aviation fuel, fresh water, ammunitions, lubricating oil, food, spare parts and 20ft ISO containers.”

As per a social media post, Atlante completed her initial trials off the Gulf of Naples in late March and is on schedule to complete her sea trials by July. OCCAR hailed the milestone as “another step forward in the journey towards the delivery of the ship to the Italian Navy.”

• You can read more details about the LSS programme on the OCCAR website