La Spezia, February 15, 2021 - Intermarine, a company belonging to the Immsi Industrial Group (IMS.MI), has signed the contract for the study of "Risk reduction and definition of the New Generation Minehunting Unit (CNG) project" for the Navy Italian military. The contract is part of the modernization programs of the fleet of Mine Countermeasures ships of the Italian Navy, which foresee, also according to what is set out in the Multiannual Defense Planning Documents of the last two years, the construction in the next years of 12 new units destined to replace the 4 Lerici Class minesweepers and the 8 Gaeta Class minesweepers. The new units will be produced in 2 versions, both characterized by the invariance of construction technology compared to current ships (i.e. structure made of composite material, with very thick fiberglass hull and absence of reinforcement frames) but of much larger dimensions. A first version, called "Costiera" and with a length of around 60 meters, will constitute the natural evolution of the ships currently in service, and will be characterized not only by the larger size and performance, but also by the integration of various "Unmanned" systems. (both surface and underwater), in line with the new trends in the sector. The second version, called "d'Altura" and with a length of around 80 meters, in light of the required capacitive level will represent a generational leap for which there are no solid design references in the national and world panorama, not only in terms of size but also of performance , with the adoption of new propulsion solutions and a wide range of vehicles and autonomous vehicles. The study commissioned to Intermarine will aim to identify among the various propulsive solutions hypothesized today the most suitable for equipping the new units, in particular the "d'Altura" version: based on considerations of effectiveness, cost and environmental respect, Italian Navy will choose the one considered most suitable on the basis of which to develop - in a second phase of the study - the basic project, preliminary to the activation of the future production program.