Portugal only less than a month ago finally determined future frigates for its navy, concluding agreement within SAFE European credit program for three FREMM EVO frigates from Italian Fincantieri, when scandal erupted in country regarding these ship procurement — decision was criticized for agreement cost, contract conditions, possible intermediary existence and so on.
Regarding price, everything comes down to fact that supposedly there is still no transparency regarding economic aspects of Italian frigate procurement agreement. As Infodefensa writes, everything started with local media comparing FREMM EVO frigate cost for Portugal and Italy, with Portuguese proving significantly more expensive compared to Italian.
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Specifically, if Portugal purchased three frigates for approximately €3.9 billion — at €1.3 billion per frigate, then Italy in 2024 got two frigates for merely €1.5 billion — or approximately €750 million per one. Thus difference on one frigate in two different contracts is €550 million.
Defense Express can note such comparison may indeed appear manipulative and directly indicate frigate price scandal has quite pronounced political subtext — especially since opposition quickly picked up this story, demanding explanations from defense department head Nuno Melo.
Since comparing month-old agreement with two-year-old contract already ignores such factors as inflation, raw material costs and so on. Not even mentioning that in Portugal's case this involves export order, while Italy ordered frigates for itself from domestic company.
As Portugal's defense department explained, frigate cost of nearly €4 billion includes technical maintenance, technology transfer, operation support for at minimum 30 years, significant industrial component including modernization of Arsenal do Alfeite shipbuilding and ship repair yard.
At same time, relevant for more or less adequate price comparison is understanding how much specifically frigates cost, and what portion of funds is consumed by everything else — this information is not yet disclosed, which remains opposition's main demand to government.
Previously Defense Express reported that although Rheinmetall will not profit from golden F126 frigates, it may join alternative — F128 frigate.
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