Italy to buy 25 extra F-35 fighter jets under new budget

ROME — Italy is to purchase 25 extra F-35 jets as well as new Eurofighters as its defense procurement spending rises 16.8% this year to €9.3 billion, or $10.3 billion, a new budget document revealed on Tuesday.

Rome will also invest half a billion euros in 2024 on development of the Global Combat Air Programme sixth-generation fighter, the document stated.

The budget document, which gave the first breakdown of Italy’s 2024 defense spending as well as forecasts for 2025 and 2026, confirmed reports of a top-up F-35 order this year to add to the country’s previously planned purchase of 90 jets.

Italy will now spend €7 billion to acquire an extra 25 aircraft, including 15 F-35As and ten F-35Bs to take Italy’s F-35 fleet to 115 aircraft, the document stated.

The estimated outlay includes logistic support to 2035.

A defense source told Defense News that the 15 new F-35As would be operated by the Italian Air Force while the ten F-35Bs would be split between the Air Force and the Italian Navy.

The existing 90-plane order envisaged 60 F-35As and 15 F-35Bs for the Air Force and 15 F-35Bs for the Navy. Currently the Air Force and the Navy are due to fly their F-35Bs from the decks of the Italian Navy carrier Cavour.

The budget also freed up €50 million to adapt Italy’s new Landing Helicopter Dock, the Trieste, to host F-35Bs.

In 2009, Italy originally planned to order 131 F-35s, only to trim its order to 90 aircraft. The document stated that 131 was still Italy’s operational requirement, but added, “the increase (to 115 aircraft) will improve Italy’s geopolitical position.”

It added that Italy’s workshare on the program had totaled €4.7 billion by December 2023, with another €1.6 billion in revenue from Italy’s Final Assembly and Check Out line in northern Italy, which is being used by Italy and other European F-35 buyers.

The budget document also reported that €506 million is being invested in 2024 on the GCAP fighter program which teams Italy with the U.K. and Japan. The spending marks an increase from the €271 million invested in 2023.

After reports earlier this year that the U.K.’s new Labour government could pull out of the GCAP program , U.K. prime minister Keir Starmer gave reassurances during a visit to Rome on Monday.

“We agreed the vital importance of our collaborative defense programs, including GCAP,” Starmer and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a joint statement. “We welcome the continued progress we are making,” they added.

The document also reported that €690 million had been added to ongoing funding of the Eurofighter program to launch the purchase of 24 fourth-tranche jets to replace 26 first-tranche aircraft which will be phased out by 2029.

The 2024 budget includes a total of €20.85 billion in defense ministry spending, up from the €19.56 billion spent in 2023, which was in turn an increase on the €18 billion spent in 2022.

The part of the budget devoted to procurement stands at €7.5 billion, a 23% jump on last year’s €6.1 billion, which was in turn a 12.5% jump from the €5.42 billion spent in 2022.

For a true picture of Italian procurement spending the annual top-up for domestic procurement provided by the Italian industry ministry must be added, which amounts to €1.8 billion in 2024, down from last year’s €1.87 billion.

Nevertheless, the overall procurement total this year, combining defense ministry and industry ministry spending, is up by 16.8% to €9.31 billion from last year’s €7.97 billion, part of a consistent upwards trend in total procurement spending which has risen from €5.45 billion in 2020.

Of the total procurement spend, €488.5 million is set aside for new programs, the document stated.

Purchasing is due to start this year of 15 new M-346 trainer jets, built by Italian firm Leonardo, which will be used by the Italian Air Force’s acrobatic team, the document stated.

The Air Force announced last week it will switch to the M-346 after using the agiing M-339 for decades. The Frecce Tricolori had previously planned to introduce Leonardo’s M-345 jet - a more basic version of the M-346.

A source knowledgeable of the deal told Defense News the M-346 would allow the team to develop new maneuvers, carry out inflight refueling in order to get to overseas displays faster while keeping pilots combat-ready.

The first M-346s will enter service with the team next year, the source added.

In its section on possible future purchases which are yet to be funded, the document cited a €560 million program to acquire new maritime patrol aircraft, to be operated jointly by the Navy and Air Force.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——周二公布的一份新预算文件显示，意大利今年的国防采购支出将增长 16.8%，达到 93 亿欧元（约合 103 亿美元），届时将额外购买 25 架 F-35 战斗机以及新的欧洲战斗机。

文件指出，罗马还将在 2024 年投资 5 亿欧元用于全球作战空中计划第六代战斗机的研发。

这份预算文件首次详细列出了意大利 2024 年的国防开支，并对 2025 年和 2026 年的开支进行了预测。文件证实了有关今年追加订购 F-35 战斗机的报道，以补充该国此前计划购买的 90 架战斗机。

文件显示，意大利将斥资 70 亿欧元购置 25 架额外的飞机，其中包括 15 架 F-35A 和 10 架 F-35B，使意大利的 F-35 机队规模达到 115 架。

预计支出包括到 2035 年的后勤支持。

一位国防消息人士告诉《防务新闻》，15架新的F-35A将由意大利空军操作，而10架F-35B将由空军和意大利海军平分。

现有的90架飞机订单计划为空军采购60架F-35A和15架F-35B，为海军采购15架F-35B。目前，空军和海军计划从意大利海军“加富尔”号航空母舰的甲板上起飞其F-35B战机。

预算还拨出 5000 万欧元，用于改造意大利新的直升机登陆舰“的里雅斯特”号，使其能够停靠 F-35B 战斗机。

2009年，意大利最初计划订购131架F-35战斗机，但后来将订单削减至90架。文件指出，131架仍然是意大利的作战需求，但补充说，“增加（到115架）将改善意大利的地缘政治地位。”

报告还指出，截至 2023 年 12 月，意大利在该项目上的工作份额总计达 47 亿欧元，此外，意大利位于意大利北部的最终组装和检验生产线还带来了 16 亿欧元的收入，该生产线目前供意大利和其他欧洲 F-35 买家使用。

预算文件还显示，2024年将向意大利与英国和日本合作的GCAP战斗机项目投资5.06亿欧元。这一支出较2023年的2.71亿欧元有所增加。

今年早些时候有报道称，英国新工党政府可能会退出全球能力建设行动计划（GCAP）。周一，英国首相基尔·斯塔默在访问罗马期间做出了保证。

“我们一致认为，包括全球防务合作计划（GCAP）在内的合作防务项目至关重要，”斯塔默和意大利总理乔治娅·梅洛尼在一份联合声明中表示。“我们欢迎双方取得的持续进展，”他们补充道。

该文件还报告称，已向欧洲战斗机计划的持续资金追加了 6.9 亿欧元，用于购买 24 架第四批次喷气式飞机，以取代 26 架将于 2029 年逐步淘汰的第一批飞机。

2024 年预算中国防部支出总额为 208.5 亿欧元，高于 2023 年的 195.6 亿欧元，而 2023 年的支出又高于 2022 年的 180 亿欧元。

预算中用于采购的部分为 75 亿欧元，比去年的 61 亿欧元增长了 23%，而去年 61 亿欧元又比 2022 年的 54.2 亿欧元增长了 12.5%。

要真正了解意大利的采购支出情况，还必须加上意大利工业部提供的国内采购年度补贴，该补贴在 2024 年达到 18 亿欧元，低于去年的 18.7 亿欧元。

尽管如此，今年国防部和工业部的总采购额（包括国防部和工业部的支出）比去年的 79.7 亿欧元增长了 16.8%，达到 93.1 亿欧元，这是采购总支出持续上升趋势的一部分，该支出已从 2020 年的 54.5 亿欧元增长到今年的水平。

文件指出，在总采购支出中，4.885亿欧元将用于新项目。

文件指出，意大利空军特技飞行队将于今年开始采购15架由意大利莱昂纳多公司制造的新型M-346教练机。

美国空军上周宣布，在使用了数十年的老旧M-339战斗机后，将换装M-346战斗机。此前，意大利空军“三色箭”特技飞行表演队曾计划引进莱昂纳多公司生产的M-345喷气式战斗机——M-346的简化版。

一位了解这笔交易的消息人士告诉《防务新闻》，M-346 将使该团队能够开发新的机动动作，进行空中加油以便更快地到达海外进行表演，同时保持飞行员的战斗准备状态。

消息人士补充说，首批 M-346 将于明年加入该队服役。

该文件在其关于尚未获得资金的未来可能采购的章节中提到了一项耗资 5.6 亿欧元的计划，旨在采购新型海上巡逻机，由海军和空军联合运营。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。