According to a Tweet published by Mahmoud Gamal, Egypt has received ASTER-30 vertically launched surface-to-air missiles and Vulcano precision-guided, gun-launched munitions as part of the equipment delivered with the two Egyptian Navy FREMM Bergamini-class frigates.
The Egyptian Navy has acquired two Bergamini-class frigates built by Fincantieri for the Italian Navy. In 2020 Italy has sold these vessels to Egypt, which were in the production line. The deal also involved other military equipment and was worth 1.2 billion Euros.
The Bergamini-class was developed under the FREMM multipurpose frigate program. The management of the development, production and initial In-Service Support phases of this important naval Programme was assigned to OCCAR (European Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation) in 2005. The FREMM program consists of the construction of 18 ships including 8 for France and 10 for Italy.
The first ship, Al Galala (FFG 1002) frigate reached the Egyptian Navy base in Alexandria on 30 December 2020. The second Italian-built Bergamini-class FREMM frigate procured by Egypt has joined the Egyptian navy in April 2021. Formerly known as Emilio Bianchi, the frigate was renamed Bernees (FFG 1003).
The two FREMM frigates for the Egyptian Navy is armed with 16-cell MBDA SYLVER A50 VLS for 16 MBDA Aster 15 and 30 surface-to-air missiles, one Leonardo Otobreda 127/64 Vulcano, one Leonardo OTO Melara 76/62 mm Davide/Strales CIWS gun, two Leonardo Oto Melara/Oerlikon KBA 25/80 mm remote weapon systems, eight MBDA Teseo\Otomat Mk-2/A anti-ship and land-attack missiles, two triple Leonardo (WASS) B-515/3 launcher for MU 90 torpedoes, two Leonardo ODLS-20 (Oto Melara Decoy Launching System) and two SITEP MASS CS-424 acoustic guns.
The 127/64 LW – VULCANO is a state of art medium caliber gun produced by the Italian company Leonardo. The gun can be mounted on large and medium-size ships and intended for surface fire and naval gunfire support as the main role and anti-aircraft fire as secondary role. The gun can fire all standard 127 mm (5 inches) ammunition including Vulcano long-range guided ammunition. The VULCANO is a family of unguided (BER) and guided (GLR) ammunition for the 76mm, 127mm naval guns, and 155mm land artillery systems.
