The Horizon class is a class of air-defence frigatess in service with the French Navy and the Italian Navy, though they have since been designated as destroyers by the both countries. The programme started as the Common New Generation Frigate (CNGF), a multi-national collaboration to produce a new generation of air-defence frigates. In Italy the class is known as the Orizzonte class, which translates to “horizon” in French and English. The UK then joined France and Italy in the Horizon-class frigate programme; however, differing national requirements, workshare arguments and delays led to the UK withdrawing on 26 April 1999 and starting its own national project, the Type 45 destroyer. The FREMM multipurpose frigate are using the same company structure as the Horizon project.
France and Italy continued their collaboration under the Horizon project. In September 2000, the two countries signed a contract to jointly produce four ships, ordering two ships each which would deploy the PAAMS missile system. The Italian Navy ordered two units, Andrea Doria and Caio Duilio, to replace the Audace-class destroyers. Andrea Doria was accepted on 22 December 2007 and received the flag of the Italian Navy. Full operation capability was achieved in the summer of 2008. The French Navy ordered two units, Forbin and Chevalier Paul to replace the Suffren-class carrier escorts. The project cost France €2.16bn (~US$3bn) at 2009 prices. A further two Horizons were cancelled; instead the two Cassard-class frigates were to be replaced by the FREDA air-defence variant of the Franco-Italian FREMM multipurpose frigate. However these plans were put in doubt by the 2013 French White Paper on Defence and National Security. France has bought forty Aster 15s and eighty Aster 30s for their ships. On the Italian units the three cannon will be upgraded to the 76/62mm Super Rapid Multi Feeding David/Strales version with the capacity to use the DART guided projectile in the anti-missile role.
The France Navy Forbin and Chevalier Paul task are protecting aircraft carriers, capital ships or civilian ships from supersonic missile attacks; her complement of medium-range anti-air missiles allows her to support the defences of another ship under attack and avoid their saturation. She is also capable of monitoring and controlling operations carried out from the sea by friendly aircraft. Andrea Doria is a destroyer of the Italian Navy. She and her sister Caio Duilio form the Andrea Doria class. Andrea Doria is a multirole ship, with a bias towards anti-aircraft warfare (the ship has an increased capacity in this type of warfare over older destroyers) and short and medium defence range capabilities. She is also highly capable in anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare.
Horizon-class frigate
