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France, the United Kingdom and Italy launched the "Horizon" programme in 1992. Following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom in 1999, it became a Franco-Italian bi-partite programme aimed at replacing current air-defence frigates.

Horizon frigates will be tasked with:

  The air defence escort of a naval task force built around an aircraft carrier; as each warship has its own defensive suite, the frigate is tasked with zone defence using its data-gathering facilities and its long range weapons, to reduce the impact of attacks on the warships of the force and avoid saturation of their defences;
  Escorting a group of lightly armed or unarmed vessels; warships vulnerable to air attack, civilian ships, escorts for amphibious forces, support for a mine warfare force, and even protection for commercial traffic;
  Intervening alone in the context of complex and hazardous military operations (naval blockades, operations against hostile warships, intelligence gathering, air traffic control in a crisis zone, etc.);
  Participating in public service tasks (assistance to ships in difficulty, search for survivors, assistance to nations that are victims of natural disasters, maritime policing tasks, etc.).