OCCAR formally inaugurates new premises in Rome

The Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) has formally inaugurated its new site in Rome, Italy, on 26 November.

The inaugural ceremony was attended by OCCAR-EA director Matteo Bisceglia, Italian Programme Committee representative vice-admiral Massimo Guma and Fincantieri and Leonardo Company Eng Giuseppe Giordo and Eng Marco De Fazio.

The removal was completed four months after the director decided to change the location of the Rome site from the Tiburtina Leonardo Company factory.

It is said to have been completed within budget and did not impact the continuity of the business. Leonardo Company presented a commemorative plate on the new OCCAR Rome site opening.

The new site is expected to host the planned establishment of the ‘new future submarine (NFS) programme division (PD) in OCCAR, sharing common assets and providing economies of scale’.

OCCAR’s current member states are Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.

The international organisation’s core business is the through-life management of cooperative defence equipment programmes.

OCCAR’s current programme portfolio includes 13 armament programmes with a total of about €4bn operational budget this year.

Last month, a procurement contract was signed for the German BOXER vehicles’ Driver Vision System (DVS).

In addition, OCCAR-EA signed a contract with Thales Defense Mission Systems (TDMS) for nine Maritime Mine Counter Measures (MMCM) primary systems last week.