Following the signing of the contract between OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d'Armement/ Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation) and Naviris (a Fincantieri and Naval Group joint-venture) for the Mid-Life Upgrade of the four Horizon-class units in service with the Italian and French navies, a sub-contract was signed in August 2023 between SIGEN (a consortium between Elettronica and Thales) and Naviris for the modernization of the Electronic Warfare (EW) system. 

 This contract represents a continuation of what has already been successfully initiated in the Horizon and FREMM programs and consolidates the collaborative relationship between the two companies for the supply of cutting-edge EW systems capable of successfully confronting current and future operational needs, with very balanced contributions from both companies.

In detail, the EW system integrates into the new Naval Units the excellence developed by both companies in their respective national naval programs. The full digital Radar Electronic Support Measures (RESM) component developed and qualified for the FDI (Frégate de Défense et d’Intervention) program for the French Navy will be integrated with ELT Group's Radar Electronic Counter Measures component developed and qualified for the PPA (Patrol Multipurpose Offshore Units) for the Italian Navy. The Communication Electronic Support Measures and Electronic Warfare Management Unit subsystems, on the other hand, will be national variants, provided by each company for its own Navy.

Domitilla Benigni, CEO and COO of Elettronica said "The contract for the EWS Mid-Life Upgrading (MLU) of the Horizon Units has a twofold and significant value for our company: on the one hand, we consolidate our presence of excellence in EW on board naval units for the Italian and French Navies and, at the same time, we consolidate the long and fruitful collaboration with Thales. Both aspects consolidate our convinced contribution toward European Defence".

Philippe Duhamel, Executive Vice-President, Defence Mission Systems, Thales, declared that: “We are very proud to reinforce our collaboration and partnership with ELT Group by the provision of our unique Electronic Warfare (EW) system for the Italian and French Navies, taking into account the new and modern stakes and threats of the electromagnetic spectrum".