The Lerici class is a series of Italian coastal minehunters with GRP hulls for magnetic silence, SQQ-14 sonar, and Gaymarine PLUTO mine-disposal drones. Two of the class, ITS Rimini and ITS Crotone, were the first MCM vessels deployed to the European Hormuz Coalition on 17 May 2026.Source: event

Which Italian ships are in the Hormuz coalition?

Italy deployed ITS Rimini and ITS Crotone, both Lerici-class minehunters, to the European Hormuz Coalition on 17 May 2026, making them the first named MCM assets in the Coalition before Belgian and German ships arrived on 18 May.Source: event

Can Italian minehunters clear mines in shallow Hormuz approaches?

The Lerici class is designed for coastal and shallow-water operations, which is relevant to Hormuz where Iranian mining doctrine would likely target shoal approaches rather than the deep main channel.

Background

Lerici is the lead vessel of Italy's Lerici-class coastal minehunters, a series designed by Intermarine and built from the mid-1980s. The class uses a GRP monocoque hull for magnetic silence and carries a Gaymarine PLUTO mine-disposal vehicle and SQQ-14 mine-hunting sonar. Italy built ten vessels of the original Lerici class before developing the improved Gaeta class; the design was also exported to Malaysia, Nigeria, and (under licence) to the United States as the Osprey class.

The operational significance in May 2026 comes from two sister vessels: ITS Rimini and ITS Crotone forward-deployed to the European Hormuz Coalition standby force on 17 May 2026, one day before the larger four-state additions. Italy's Lerici-class vessels became the Coalition's first named MCM assets on station, preceding Belgium's BNS Primula and Germany's Fulda.

The Lerici class can operate in shallow water — a critical capability at Hormuz, where tidal and sediment conditions vary sharply between the deep main channel and the shoal approaches Iranian mining doctrine would likely target. Together with the later German and Belgian additions, Italy's two Lerici-class ships give the Coalition a four-vessel MCM cluster, though all operate without published rules of engagement.

Source Material

Lerici-class minehunter