Portugal to Buy Three Fincantieri Frigates in Nearly €3.9 Billion Deal

Portugal Picks Italian Steel for Its Navy

Portugal is buying three FREMM EVO frigates from Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri, according to Breaking Defense. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced the deal at a press conference alongside Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro.

"I am very, very pleased regarding Portugal's decision to buy three FREMM EVO frigates from Fincantieri," Meloni said, according to Breaking Defense. She called it "a recognition of Italian defense industry" and framed it as proof "Europe can reinforce its autonomy by investing in its own technological capacity and companies."

Montenegro put a price tag on the deal: nearly €3.9 billion, or about $4.6 billion, according to Breaking Defense's reporting on his comments.

The announcement came after months of negotiation. CNN Portugal first reported in December that a deal was coming, indicating discussions had been underway for months before the confirmation.

What Portugal Is Actually Buying

The FREMM EVO is Fincantieri's next-generation version of its original FREMM frigate program, according to the shipbuilder's own website. It comes in two variants and represents, in the company's words, ships that will be "at the forefront of defense vessels, both in terms of technology and performance."

Specs matter here. These ships run 144 meters, or about 472 feet, long. They can hit a max continuous speed of more than 27 knots, roughly 31 mph, which is solid for a vessel that size.

Fincantieri says the ships build on "main technological developments already achieved in recent programs" and add integration of "the latest anti-drone and unmanned systems across three domains." The design reflects current threat environments where drone swarms and unmanned systems are becoming standard concerns for any navy, not just a hypothetical.

A Fincantieri spokesperson declined to comment for Breaking Defense's report, so the company's own framing of the deal's specifics beyond its website language isn't independently confirmed.

Bigger Picture: European Defense Buying European

Meloni's comments lean hard into a message that's been building across European capitals for a while now: buy your defense hardware from fellow Europeans, not just from the Americans. That's not a new idea, but it's gained real traction since Russia's invasion of Ukraine forced European governments to take their own military production seriously again.

There's a legitimate case for this. European countries spending billions on defense want that money circulating in their own industrial base, creating jobs and technical expertise at home rather than flowing entirely to Lockheed Martin or General Dynamics. Meloni's pitch about "reinforcing autonomy" reflects the stated policy goal of a lot of NATO members trying to reduce total dependency on U.S. defense contractors.

That said, the flip side is worth stating plainly. Critics of European "strategic autonomy" pushes, including voices within NATO who favor tighter alliance integration, argue that fragmenting procurement across national suppliers can mean less interoperability and higher per-unit costs than buying off an established American production line. Whether the FREMM EVO ends up cheaper or more capable than an equivalent U.S. or U.K. option isn't addressed in Meloni's remarks or Fincantieri's marketing material, and no independent cost comparison was cited in the available reporting.

Still, for Fincantieri, this is a win. Landing a nearly $4.6 billion contract with a fellow NATO and EU member reinforces the company's position as one of Europe's dominant naval shipbuilders.

What's Unresolved

Breaking Defense's report doesn't specify a delivery timeline for the three frigates, nor does it detail financing terms, whether Portugal is paying cash, financing through EU defense funds, or some combination. It's also unclear whether this deal includes any offset arrangements requiring Fincantieri to source components from Portuguese suppliers, a common feature in big European defense contracts designed to spread industrial benefits across buyer and seller nations.

Those details will likely surface as the contract moves from political announcement to signed paperwork. For now, what's confirmed is the topline number, the ship count, and two prime ministers standing together calling it a win for both countries.