Flexible UNPAV Vessels will Enhance Special Forces Capabilities

Rolls-Royce is to supply engines and waterjets for two new high-speed multi-purpose vessels (UNPAV) under construction at Intermarine’s Sarzana shipyard for the Italian Navy.

The 40m vessels will be powered by three MTU 2000 series diesels connected to three Kamewa S4 waterjets. They will be used by the Gruppo Operativo Incursori (GOI – Operational Incursion Group), the Italian Navy’s special forces arm, in maritime traffic control, personnel evacuation and counter-narcotics operations as well as in combatting human trafficking.

The GOI is constantly called in to undertake sensitive and difficult tasks in crisis situations of evident strategic importance, responding decisively to urgent operational problems with dangerous political implications. It constantly searches for the best equipment on the market, in order to put its personnel in a position to carry out any mission entrusted to them.

The collaboration between Intermarine and Rolls-Royce continues with minesweeper programmes, for which Rolls-Royce provides super-silent stainless steel controllable pitch propellers from Kamewa, driven by MTU engines designed to be anti-magnetic and highly shock-resistant. Rolls-Royce will also provide Tenfjord type steering gear.