Italy unveils weapons wish list, forecasts defense spending

ROME — Italy this year allocated millions of euros to buy new tanks, fighting vehicles and rocket launchers as the war in Ukraine revives the demand for land warfare systems, a government document has shown.

The budgeting document, officially due in the spring but only released Tuesday, breaks down Italy’s defense spending for 2023 and offers forecasts for 2024 and 2025. Officials reportedly held up the document’s release amid a scramble to update military shopping lists in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine .

Now on the list are 21 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — U.S.-made rocket launchers that have seen success on the battlefield against Russian targets. An initial €137 million (U.S. $145 million) is expected to go toward the launchers over the next seven years, the document said, with the total outlay to reach €960 million (U.S. $1 billion).

The document also confirmed Italy’s intention, announced in July, to buy new Leopard 2 A8 tanks to beef up its depleted fleet. For the tanks, €100 million is penciled in for 2024, and Italy expects to have spent €4 billion by 2037, with spending eventually running to €8.25 billion.

Defense sources said over the summer that Italy’s target is 133 new tanks to meet NATO requirements.

At the time, the government said the purchase of Leopards would not rule out Italy’s entry into the envisaged Main Ground Combat System program, a Franco-German initiative to develop and produce a replacement for their tank fleets.

Another new scheme outlined in the document is a €15 billion program to buy new armored fighting vehicles to replace Italy’s aging Dardo vehicles. With €48 million forecast for 2024 to get the program going, the document said €5.23 billion was budgeted so far and spread over 14 years.

Italy has yet to decide on what vehicle to buy or develop, but the document stated the program must “maximise” Italian industrial input, jobs and know-how, while being part of a “multi-national context, based on alliances with solid European firms that already work with Italian companies, creating advantageous opportunities for the expansion of the partnership on the development of the future European Main Battle Tank.”

Among other new programs is a €76 million outlay to develop drone swarm technology.

And Italy’s investment in the trilateral Global Combat Air Program to develop a fighter aircraft with Japan and the U.K. is to receive €271 million this year, with spending by 2037 is forecast to reach a total of €7.77 billion.

The 2023 budget includes a total of €19.56 billion in spending by the Defence Ministry, up from the €18 billion spent in 2022, which was in turn an increase on previous years.

The part of the budget devoted to procurement stands at €6.1 billion, a 12.5% jump from the €5.42 billion spent in 2022, which in turn was a jump by about 35% on the €4 billion spent in 2021.

For a true picture of Italian defense procurement spending, the annual extra cash for domestic procurement provided by the country’s industry-focused ministry must be added, which amounts to €1.87 billion, down from last year’s €2.43 billion.

Nevertheless, the overall procurement total this year, combining spending by the Defence Ministry and the industry-focused ministry, runs to €7.97 billion, up from €7.85 billion last year.

Last year’s total was in turn up from the €6.76 billion in 2021 and the €5.45 billion in 2020, showing a continuing positive spending trend.

The budget document forecast that total procurement spending will rise again in 2024 to €8.16 billion and then again to €8.74 billion in 2025.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——一份政府文件显示，由于乌克兰战争重新燃起了对陆战系统的需求，意大利今年拨款数百万欧元购买新的坦克、战车和火箭发射器。

这份预算文件原定于春季发布，但直到周二才公布。文件详细列出了意大利2023年的国防开支，并对2024年和2025年进行了预测。据报道，由于俄罗斯入侵乌克兰，意大利官员忙于更新军需品清单，因此推迟了文件的发布。

目前，名单上新增了21套高机动性火箭炮系统——这些美国制造的火箭发射器曾在战场上成功打击过俄罗斯目标。文件显示，未来七年内，预计将有1.37亿欧元（约合1.45亿美元）的资金用于采购这些发射器，总投资额将达到9.6亿欧元（约合10亿美元）。

该文件还证实了意大利在7月份宣布的购买新型豹2 A8坦克以增强其薄弱坦克部队的计划。意大利计划在2024年为此投入1亿欧元，预计到2037年将累计投入40亿欧元，最终总支出将达到82.5亿欧元。

国防消息人士在夏季表示，意大利的目标是制造 133 辆新坦克，以满足北约的要求。

当时，政府表示，购买豹式坦克不会排除意大利加入设想中的主战坦克作战系统计划，这是一项法德两国共同发起的旨在开发和生产坦克部队替代品的计划。

该文件概述的另一项新计划是耗资150亿欧元购买新型装甲战车，以取代意大利老旧的达尔多装甲车。文件指出，为启动该计划，预计2024年将投入4800万欧元，目前已拨款52.3亿欧元，并将在未来14年内分期支付。

意大利尚未决定购买或开发哪种车辆，但该文件指出，该计划必须“最大限度地”利用意大利的工业投入、就业和专业知识，同时成为“多国合作环境的一部分，基于与已经与意大利公司合作的欧洲实力雄厚的公司结盟，为扩大未来欧洲主战坦克开发方面的合作关系创造有利机会”。

其他新项目还包括一项7600万欧元的拨款，用于开发无人机集群技术。

意大利今年将向与日本和英国合作的三方全球作战航空计划投资 2.71 亿欧元，用于开发战斗机，预计到 2037 年，总支出将达到 77.7 亿欧元。

2023 年预算中，国防部的总支出为 195.6 亿欧元，高于 2022 年的 180 亿欧元，而 2022 年的支出又比往年有所增加。

预算中用于采购的部分为 61 亿欧元，比 2022 年的 54.2 亿欧元增长了 12.5%，而 2022 年的支出又比 2021 年的 40 亿欧元增长了约 35%。

要了解意大利国防采购支出的真实情况，还必须加上该国以工业为重点的部门每年为国内采购提供的额外资金，这笔资金总额为 18.7 亿欧元，低于去年的 24.3 亿欧元。

尽管如此，今年国防部和工业部的总采购额（包括支出）为 79.7 亿欧元，高于去年的 78.5 亿欧元。

去年的总额又高于 2021 年的 67.6 亿欧元和 2020 年的 54.5 亿欧元，显示出持续的积极消费趋势。

预算文件预测，2024 年采购总支出将再次上升至 81.6 亿欧元，2025 年将再次上升至 87.4 亿欧元。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。