Katanpää-class

The Katanpää class is a series of three mine countermeasures vessels ordered by the Finnish Navy from Intermarine SpA, Italy, under a contract worth €244.8 million signed in November 2006. Named after historical Finnish island fortresses and naval ports, the vessels were designed to replace the aging Kuha-class minesweepers as Finland shifted its naval focus toward mine countermeasure capabilities.

Construction began in July 2007 with the lamination of the first composite hull. The program suffered multiple delays, notably when the Sarzana shipyard was devastated by floods in 2009. The lead ship Katanpää was delivered in May 2012, Purunpää in August 2013, and the third vessel Vahterpää in November 2016. All three were shipped to Finland aboard heavy-lift vessels for final commissioning. The class is expected to remain in service until 2040-2042.

Based on the Lerici/Gaeta design lineage, the Katanpää class features a fiberglass hull up to 150mm thick, with decks reinforced by balsa and carbon fiber for enhanced shock resistance. The low-signature diesel-electric propulsion uses two MTU engines and two Voith Schneider propellers, with ice-class capability for Baltic Sea operations. The mine countermeasures suite follows a modular "toolbox" principle: a Kongsberg HUGIN 1000 AUV (over 4 meters long, 800 kg) for seabed mapping, a REMUS 100 AUV for shallow-water reconnaissance, Double Eagle and Atlas Elektronik SeaFox ROVs for mine identification and destruction, hull-mounted Kongsberg EM-710 multibeam echosounder, and Klein 5500 towed side-scanning sonar. Self-defence armament consists of a Bofors 40mm L/70 gun with TV/IR fire control and depth charges.