Tongdao Think Tank 2024-01-10 11:30 Published in Heilongjiang.
According to Defense News Network on January 8, the U.S. Navy is sending robots to speed up the construction of frigates.
Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri said it was taking automation seriously to build two frigates a year at the Marinette naval shipyard, up from three every two years previously.
Pierroberto Formgiro, CEO of the Italian company, said: "We plan to introduce a triple production rate for corvette welding. ”
Fifteen years after the purchase of Marinette Marine, the fincantieri is now building the first Constellation-class frigate for the US Navy, with a planned completion date of 2026. The company is already building 20 ships based on the European Multi-Mission Frigate (FREMM) for the Italian Navy as part of the program.
Last July, Fincantieri presented the MR4WELD, a robot developed by the Italian company Comau. The robot is active in the automotive industry. The robot has a ** system that can autonomously identify the welded joint, or be displayed at the weld by a human operator.
We are applying to start using the robot on a large scale in Italy, and we hope to export it to the United States as soon as possible," Folgiero added, "This is a major priority since we worked hard to find welders in the United States." ”
In fact, Comau is part of the Folgiero group and has operations in the United States. Robots are the latest tool that Fincantieri wants to use to speed up production.
U.S. Navy officers have ordered the exercise of contractual rights to purchase refrigerated technology packets or blueprints from fincantieri in order to be eligible to build one more ship that would double annual production to four.
The company currently has 400 staff at its three Wisconsin terminals, of which 2,100 are directly employed.
We still have the problem of finding talent, and, just as importantly, retraining them through incentives," Folgiero said. The reduction in staff shortages is partly due to recruitment, but also to increased productivity.
fincantieri**, between 2024 and 2030, seabed military spending will total 94 trillion euros ($103 trillion). The company has signed a drone deal with Italian defense giant Leonardo in November last year to protect submarine cables and pipelines.
In December, it bought the Italian company Remazel, which manages subsea operations in the oil and gas sector, such as offshore wind power and subsea mining robotic launch and ** systems.
Also in December, fincantieri signed an agreement to collaborate with W-Sense, an Italian start-up that uses Norwegian technology to develop underwater communications based on acoustic and optical signals.
We're going to be an integrator and decide whether to build or buy the system," Folgiero said, "and there are drones out there, and they're not hard to find, although we can build drones that are nine meters long." ”
We follow the new undersea naval doctrine, in which one of the carriers is a command and control and communications center, which interacts with submarines and UAVs from 3 to 9 meters, "he added.
Folgiero said the use of oil and gas technology for undersea defense often requires fincantieri to work cross-cutting between the civilian and defense sectors, just as they already use technology ranging from building cruisers to improving naval vessels.