On July 8th, Italy held a keel laying ceremony for the first ship of its second generation "European Multi Mission Escort" (FREMM 2.0) at the Fincantieri Group's Rivatiglioso Naval Shipyard. The Director of the Italian Naval Weapons and Equipment Bureau and representatives from the supply chain industry attended the ceremony. The FREMM 2.0 frigate is an evolved version of the FREMM frigate. Italy has initially planned to build two ships, which are scheduled to be delivered in 2029 and 2030 respectively. It is currently one of the most powerful surface warships under construction in Europe. The new ship basically maintains FREMM's hull specifications and diesel electric propulsion system, with a full load displacement of about 7000 tons. The Italian Fincantieri Group stated that the FREMM 2.0 frigate is a large frigate with balanced performance positioning and practical and avant-garde design. It has the anti submarine capability of the FREMM frigate family and focuses on improving regional air defense capabilities, especially unmanned combat capabilities. It will become the first ship in the Italian Navy to be equipped with a new generation of anti drone kits. In terms of firepower configuration, the new ship is similar to the anti submarine type of the FREMM frigate, including 2 76mm naval guns and 4 sets of 8-mounted anti-ship cruise missile/anti submarine missile launchers, as well as 2 SH-90 anti submarine helicopters. However, the vertical launch device area at the bow of the ship has been expanded to launch the "Aster-30Block1 NT missile," which can intercept ballistic missiles. The caliber of the two "Lionfish" remote-controlled weapon stations has been increased from 25mm to 30mm, and the fire control system has been improved to enable hard destruction of unmanned weapons. In terms of radar, the new ship will introduce mature technology validated by the Paul di Lefei class large patrol ship, using the Italian Leonardo Group's "Chronos DBR" dual band multifunctional active phased array radar, with two sets installed in front of the bridge and above the hangar. Under the identification of friend or foe antenna on the main mast, there is a C-band improved field air defense radar with a four sided fixed array from Leonardo Group, which is used to detect high-speed incoming unmanned boats and ultra-low altitude flying unmanned aerial vehicles. The new ship will adopt an upgraded electronic warfare system to enhance soft kill efficiency. The main mast will accommodate more electronic warfare equipment through a flat panel array design and share the backend processing system with the dual band radar for system integration. The new ship will also introduce the Leonardo Group SADOC Mk 4 combat management system, which has a larger screen and more convenient human-machine interaction. It will also add artificial intelligence assisted management tools, especially the unmanned operating system embedded in the Fincantieri Group, to match the two unmanned surface vessels on board. The ship management and damage control system of the new ship has also been upgraded, and elastic network mechanisms that can be "cloud upgraded" have been introduced in some functional areas for subsequent technological upgrades. Some comments suggest that the new ship will become an important force for the Italian Mediterranean Fleet, serving as a technology validation platform for the new generation of 10000 ton class large destroyers that the Italian Navy plans to install in the 1930s, and driving technological updates and iterations from multiple Italian defense suppliers. (New Society)