Italy's Fincantieri and Saipem have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the aim of assessing opportunities collaboration in underwater robotics with a view to surveillance and control of critical underwater infrastructures. In in particular, the agreement between the Navalmeccanica Group and the Saipem, which is active in the construction of infrastructure for the onshore and offshore energy sector, is focused on autonomous underwater vehicles and their integration with surface and underwater units and aims to enable the participation of the two companies in relevant programmes in the Italian and international market in the field of surveillance and control of critical underwater infrastructures and activities through the use of specific technologies complementary to Fincantieri and Saipem. The collaboration includes integration between surface ships and submarines made by Fincantieri and the "Hydrone" drone development program of Sonsub, Saipem's centre of excellence that manufactures and underwater solutions.

With the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, signed at Palazzo Marina, headquarters of the General Staff of the Italian Navy, Fincantieri and Saipem intend to act as a reference point for the dimension, whose strategic centrality is increasingly evident in the current geopolitical context.