Protectionist instincts flare as venerable Italian cannon maker goes up for sale

ROME — A plan by Italy’s Leonardo to sell off its naval and terrestrial cannon business as well as its torpedo operation has sparked a political row over the rival merits of maintaining national sovereignty and encouraging European integration.

The Italian defense giant is looking at selling off cannon maker Oto Melara and torpedo maker WASS, with Franco-German joint venture KNDS reportedly keen to snap them up.

In the other corner is Fincantieri — an Italian state controlled firm just like Leonardo — which would like to step in and buy up the two historic Italian brands that date back to before WWII.

For Leonardo, the future counts more than heritage as it focuses firmly on electronics and cyber products rather than hardware like munitions and torpedoes.

The cash injection from a sale is also a motivation, with KNDS in line to offer €650 million (U.S. $738 million) according to media reports, which would help cover Leonardo’s own planned purchase of a stake in German electronics firm Hensoldt.

That is reportedly more than Fincantieri would offer. KNDS, the alliance of Germany’s Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and France’s Nexter, has allegedly guaranteed no job cuts and is offering the prospect of bringing Oto Melara into its plan for a European tank , the so-called Main Ground Combat System.

That may sound like a sensible path towards European industrial integration, heralding cohesion around a common program which will in turn foster a much touted, but seldom achieved commonality in European Union-wide defense politics.

That is seen as crucial as the EU launches another bid to build a pan-European fighting force which could deploy independently from the United States.

But to many in Italy the prospect of selling the cannon and torpedo businesses to a Franco-German joint venture sounds like a sell-out of national sovereignty and a hand-over of Italian technology, ensuring France and Germany remain the top players on the continent and keeping Italy in a lower league.

The reaction from across the political spectrum to the mooted sale to KNDS has been rapid and hostile, starting with defense undersecretary Stefania Pucciarelli, a member of the right-wing League party which backs the government led by Mario Draghi.

“We are all very worried, and with reason, about the risks the business is split up and sold overseas and there are lively discussions about stopping this,” she said.

She was joined by Italy’s second defense undersecretary Giorgio Mulé, a member of the centre-right Forza Italia party, who said it was “imperative” to keep Italy’s sovereign defense technology from ending up abroad.

Defense insiders expressed surprise at news of the potential KNDS sale of the two firms, which employ over 1,500 at four locations in Italy, with one saying Leonardo CEO Alessandro Profumo had worked on a deal with small team and kept it under wraps.

As news broke last week, members of the centre-left Democratic Party and the anti-establishment Five Star party also opposed the sale, as did unions, while Giovanni Toti, the governor of the Liguria region which is home to the firms said they “must remain solidly in Italian hands.”

After the chorus of disapproval for a foreign sale, Italian Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini said: “The aim is to work to maintain national protection [for the firms], while being open to European industrial cooperation.”

Such a degree of opposition could push Prime Minister Draghi to engineer a sale to state-controlled shipyard Fincantieri, which is “interested” in a deal according to one source at the firm, but may balk at matching the price KNDS is willing to pay.

Government pressure on Profumo to sell to Fincantieri could spark more tension between him and Fincantieri CEO Giuseppe Bono, after the two firms tussled over the right to buy Italian electronics firm Vitrociset, with Leonardo coming out the winner in 2018.

Fincantieri would be a natural home for WASS’s torpedo production and Oto Melara’s manufacture of naval cannons including the 76mm and 127mm guns the shipyard mounts on its vessels.

Oto Melara’s turrets for military vehicles would however not be such a good fit, although Bono has recently shown no qualms about diversifying from shipbuilding, to the extent of getting involved in building a new road bridge in Italy.

One industry insider in Italy also claimed that the battle tank program Oto Melara could join if it is sold to KNDS was stalled and unlikely to gain momentum any time soon.

But a second source said selling up to KNDS made good sense in any case.

“Terrestrial vehicles are not a strategic sector for Italy. There are plenty of producers in Europe and one will always be available.

“Moreover, Oto Melara’s main customer is the Italian army, which is not a big enough market for the firm to reach production levels which generate technological advancements. Tying up with a bigger firm would allow that,” he said.

Oto Melara’s naval gun business occupied a niche in the market, and has an international market, he added. “Why not split it off and sell just that to Fincantieri?” he said.

Oto Melara and WASS became a more attractive proposition this week as India lifted a ban on doing business with Leonardo — which was imposed over now disproved corruption allegations. An Indian Defence Ministry official said the suspension was lifted on the grounds of operational urgency and because of a lack of available alternatives for procuring 127mm naval guns and heavy-weight torpedoes.

The final decision on the sale is likely to be taken by Draghi, who met French leader Emmanuel Macron on Friday ahead of the signing of a new cooperation deal between Italy and France due this month.

A deal to sell Oto Melara and WASS to the Franco-German alliance may sit nicely alongside the deal, but Draghi will also be acutely aware of the loud opposition from the parties that ensure the existence of his coalition government.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to include a quote from Italian Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——意大利莱昂纳多公司计划出售其海军和陆地火炮业务以及鱼雷业务，这一计划引发了一场关于维护国家主权和促进欧洲一体化孰优孰劣的政治争论。

据报道，意大利国防巨头正在考虑出售其大炮制造商 Oto Melara 和鱼雷制造商 WASS，而法德合资企业 KNDS 则有意收购它们。

另一边是芬坎蒂尼集团——一家与莱昂纳多集团一样由意大利国有控股的公司——它想介入并收购这两个可以追溯到二战前的意大利历史悠久的品牌。

对于莱昂纳多公司而言，未来比传统更重要，它专注于电子产品和网络产品，而不是弹药和鱼雷等硬件。

出售所得的现金注入也是一个动机，据媒体报道，KNDS 准备出价 6.5 亿欧元（7.38 亿美元），这将有助于支付 Leonardo 计划收购德国电子公司 Hensoldt 的股份。

据报道，这比芬坎蒂尼集团的报价更高。德国克劳斯-玛菲·韦格曼公司和法国奈克斯特公司组成的联盟KNDS据称已保证不裁员，并提出将奥托·梅莱拉公司纳入其欧洲坦克计划，即所谓的“主战坦克系统”。

这听起来像是通往欧洲工业一体化的一条明智之路，预示着围绕共同计划的凝聚力，而这反过来又将促进欧盟范围内防务政策中备受吹捧但很少实现的共识。

欧盟再次发起组建泛欧洲作战部队的行动，该部队可以独立于美国进行部署，因此这一点至关重要。

但对许多意大利人来说，将大炮和鱼雷业务出售给法德合资企业的前景，听起来就像是出卖国家主权和拱手让出意大利技术，确保法国和德国继续保持在欧洲大陆的领先地位，并将意大利保持在较低的水平。

各方对拟议将KNDS出售给国防部的反应迅速而敌对，首先是国防部副部长斯特凡妮娅·普恰雷利，她是支持马里奥·德拉吉领导的政府的右翼联盟党成员。

“我们都非常担心，而且这种担心不无道理，公司可能会被拆分出售到海外，目前正在热烈讨论如何阻止这种情况发生，”她说。

与她一同出席的还有意大利国防部第二副部长乔治·穆莱，他是中右翼意大利力量党的成员。穆莱表示，必须防止意大利的自主国防技术流向国外。

国防内部人士对 KNDS 可能出售这两家公司的消息表示惊讶，这两家公司在意大利的四个地点雇佣了 1500 多名员工。一位人士表示，莱昂纳多首席执行官亚历山德罗·普罗富莫曾带领一个小团队进行交易，并一直对此保密。

上周消息传出后，中左翼民主党和反建制派五星运动党的成员以及工会也反对此次出售，而这些公司所在的利古里亚大区区长乔瓦尼·托蒂表示，这些公司“必须牢牢掌握在意大利人手中”。

在各方对这笔对外出售表示强烈反对之后，意大利国防部长洛伦佐·盖里尼表示：“我们的目标是在维护（这些公司）国家安全的同时，对欧洲工业合作持开放态度。”

这种程度的反对可能会促使总理德拉吉促成将公司出售给国有造船厂芬坎蒂尼。据该公司一位消息人士透露，芬坎蒂尼对这笔交易“感兴趣”，但可能不愿意支付KNDS愿意支付的价格。

政府向普罗富莫施压，要求其将公司出售给芬坎蒂尼集团，这可能会加剧他与芬坎蒂尼集团首席执行官朱塞佩·博诺之间的紧张关系。此前，两家公司曾争夺收购意大利电子公司Vitrociset的权利，最终莱昂纳多集团在2018年胜出。

芬坎蒂尼造船厂自然而然地成为了 WASS 鱼雷生产和奥托梅莱拉海军火炮（包括该造船厂安装在其舰艇上的 76 毫米和 127 毫米火炮）制造的基地。

不过，奥托·梅莱拉为军用车辆生产的炮塔可能不太合适，尽管博诺最近毫不犹豫地从造船业多元化发展，甚至参与了意大利一座新公路桥的建设。

意大利一位业内人士还声称，如果奥托梅莱拉公司被出售给KNDS，该公司可能参与的坦克项目已经停滞不前，不太可能很快取得进展。

但另一位消息人士称，无论如何，将公司出售给 KNDS 都是明智之举。

“陆地车辆对意大利来说并非战略性产业。欧洲有很多生产商，总会有产品供应。”

“此外，奥托梅莱拉的主要客户是意大利军队，但这个市场规模不够大，不足以让该公司达到能够带来技术进步的生产水平。与一家更大的公司合作就能解决这个问题，”他说道。

他补充说，奥托·梅拉拉的海军炮业务占据了市场的一个细分领域，并且拥有国际市场。“为什么不把它剥离出来，只卖给芬坎蒂尼集团呢？”他说道。

本周，随着印度解除对莱昂纳多公司（Leonardo）的业务禁令——该禁令此前因现已被证实不实的腐败指控而实施——奥托梅莱拉（Oto Melara）和WASS公司的采购前景变得更加诱人。一位印度国防部官员表示，解除禁令的理由是作战的紧迫性，以及缺乏采购127毫米舰炮和重型鱼雷的替代方案。

最终的出售决定很可能由德拉吉做出，他于上周五会见了法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙，意大利和法国将于本月签署一项新的合作协议。

将 Oto Melara 和 WASS 出售给法德联盟的交易可能与该交易相得益彰，但德拉吉也清楚地意识到，那些确保其联合政府存在的政党会强烈反对。

编者按：本文已更新，加入了意大利国防部长洛伦佐·盖里尼的引述。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。