, ROME (DefenceTalk): OTO Melara, a Finmeccanica company, has secured two different contracts, worth EUR 80 million, from the German BWB, the procurement arm of the ministry of defence.
The first contract worth EUR 70 million is for the supply of five 127/64 LW (Light Weight) naval systems: four will be installed on F125 frigates, the new ships designed and produced by the ARGE F125 consortium, while the fifth will be used for training.
As part of the same F125 programme, Germany has selected the remote-controlled HITROLE 12.7mm naval turret—of which OTO Melara has already sold around 40 to the Italian finance police, the UAE and Mexican navies, among others—in the new Naval Tilting (NT) version, which the Finmeccanica company has designed and produced according to the precise requirements of the German navy.
It will provide a total of 25 systems: five on board each of the four frigates and five on land for training purposes. This second contract is worth around EUR 10 million.
The final contracts for the supply of the 127/64 LW naval guns and the HITROLE® NT 12.7mm turrets are expected to be signed in the third quarter of the year, subject to the approval of the F125 programme by the German parliament.
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