Italy eyes US tech for souping up dumb missiles into drone interceptors

ROME — The Italian Air Force is mulling the purchase of U.S. technology that turns cheap unguided missiles into precision weapons, offering a low-cost option for taking out drones instead of using pricy air-to-air missiles.

The potential deal was made possible by the U.S. Department of State’s approval of a Foreign Military Sale to Italy of 5,031 BAE Systems Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) II guidance systems.

The APKWS, which can be inserted between the warhead of an unguided missile and its motor, features four fold-out wings which each carry a laser seeker, turning a missile that costs less than €100,000 ($117,000) into a guided weapon.

The solution would allow the Italian Air Force to avoid firing missiles like the AMRAAM - which costs ten times that - to destroy cheaply produced drones.

“The proposed sale will improve Italy’s capability to meet current and future threats by strengthening its homeland defense and serving as a deterrent to regional threats,” the State Department said.

The FMS approval also covers launchers, warheads and rocket motors, as well as technical support, taking the potential deal to $364 million, the State Department added.

Sources in Italy told Defense News no contract had been signed and the technology was still being evaluated. The likely recipient of the APKWS would be Italy’s Eurofighter jet, which is already guarding Europe’s borders against drone incursions.

This month, an Italian Eurofighter taking part in NATO air policing mission in the Baltics shot down an unidentified drone which flew into Latvian airspace.

In May, the Royal Air Force announced it was already using the system on its Eurofighters after a rapid acquisition which saw testing and deployment completed in two months.

“The Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) gives RAF pilots a highly accurate option to destroy aerial targets and allows them to engage drones at a fraction of the cost of traditional air-to-air missiles,” the RAF said at the time.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——意大利空军正在考虑购买美国的技术，该技术可以将廉价的非制导导弹变成精确武器，从而提供一种低成本的无人机打击方案，而不是使用昂贵的空对空导弹。

美国国务院批准向意大利出售 5,031 套 BAE 系统公司先进精确杀伤武器系统 (APKWS) II 制导系统，使得这笔潜在交易成为可能。

APKWS 可以插入非制导导弹的弹头和发动机之间，它有四个可折叠的翼片，每个翼片上都有一个激光导引头，可以将一枚成本低于 10 万欧元（11.7 万美元）的导弹变成制导武器。

这项解决方案将使意大利空军无需发射像 AMRAAM 这样的导弹（其成本是它的十倍）来摧毁廉价生产的无人机。

美国国务院表示：“拟议的军售将通过加强意大利的国土防御，提高其应对当前和未来威胁的能力，并对地区威胁起到威慑作用。”

美国国务院补充说，此次对外军售批准还包括发射器、弹头和火箭发动机以及技术支持，潜在交易额将达到 3.64 亿美元。

意大利消息人士告诉《防务新闻》，目前尚未签署任何合同，该技术仍在评估中。APKWS系统最有可能的接收方是意大利的台风战斗机，该机型目前已在欧洲边境执行防御无人机入侵的任务。

本月，一架参与北约在波罗的海地区空中警戒任务的意大利“台风”战斗机击落了一架飞入拉脱维亚领空的身份不明无人机。

今年 5 月，英国皇家空军宣布，在快速采购后，该系统已在其欧洲战斗机上使用。此次采购仅用了两个月时间就完成了测试和部署。

英国皇家空军当时表示：“先进精确杀伤武器系统（APKWS）为英国皇家空军飞行员提供了一种高度精确的摧毁空中目标的选择，并使他们能够以远低于传统空空导弹的成本打击无人机。”

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。