Fast Lane from Yachts to Military Craft

To inaugurate its first ever participation to IMDEX Asia, Ferretti Security and Defence (FSD) sat down to discuss with MONS the key features of its first military craft and its plans for the Asian Market: “We believe our strength lies in three key aspects: our engineering know-how stems from over 170 years of experience building yachts, which means we also have well established shipyards; our craft are highly manoeuvrable, a key feature which facilitates patrolling in rivers and coastal areas alike; and, we can integrate new systems, such as weapons, very easily ourselves,” Andrea Ameli, Operations Director at FSD, said.

FSD’s makes its entrance in the defence market with the FSD 350 Marte, a 35.3 meter-long craft that can reach speeds of 55 knots with a 1/3 load and has a patrolling range of 770 nautical miles (1426km). “Thanks to their relatively small size and their speed, these types of craft are ideal for missions ranging from patrolling and search and rescue to special operations missions,” continued Ameli.

“Their ability to make U-turns at fast speeds means they can chase as well as escape other ships very easily,” he concluded.

The FSD 350 prototype was first introduced in Italy in June 2016, and FSD gathered feedback over the summer in order to complete the craft in September of that year. It was subsequently introduced to the defence market at IDEX 2017 in Abu Dhabi earlier this year. “We know we will have to wait a few months to sign the first few contracts, but we have seen a lot of interest for our craft in both the Gulf and the Asia Pacific region,” Giuliano Felten, Director of FSD, said. “To begin with, we would like to target countries with numerous archipelagos, such as Indonesia and the Philippines,” he concluded.

Alix Valenti