In the early 1970s, the Marina Militare faced an increased Soviet naval presence in the Mediterranean Sea which constituted a threat to its sea lines of communication as well as to its extensive coastline. To parry this menace, Italy started a naval expansion program which included frigates focused on ASuW (Lupo class) and on ASW (Maestrale class).
For the first part of the requirement, CNR presented a design for a 2,500-ton frigate with a high speed and a heavy weapons load. The ship employed a CODOG propulsion plant to achieve 35 knots, making it one of the fastest warships at the time. Armament included 8 SSMs, 8 SAMs, several gun systems, 2 triple torpedo tubes and an ASW helicopter, which was equivalent to that carried by larger warships. To save weight, Lupo-class frigates are highly automated, allowing a crew of around 200, lower than the 250 of the comparable Leander-class frigate.
| General characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Type: | guided missile frigate |
| Displacement: | 2,506 tonnes (2,986 tonnes full load) |
| Length: | 113.2 m (371 ft) |
| Beam: | 11.3 m (37 ft) |
| Draft: | 3.7 m (12 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 2-shaft CODOG system
|
| Speed: | 35 kn (65 km/h) with gas turbines 21 kn (39 km/h) with diesels |
| Range: | 4,300 nmi (8,000 km) at 16 kn (30 km/h) |
| Complement: | 185 (20 officers) |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
|
| Electronic warfare and decoys: |
|
| Armament: |
|
| Aircraft carried: | 1 AB-212ASW helicopter |
| Aviation facilities: |
|
