Italy faces GCAP warplane price tag topping $21 billion

ROME — Italy’s outlay on the design and development of the tri-nation GCAP fighter has tripled from €6 billion to €18.6 billion — or from $7 billion to $21.8 billion — in the last five years, the country’s defense minister has told parliament.

The announcement of the price hike came in a request to parliament to authorize the pay-out which prompted criticism from Italy’s opposition Five Star party.

“This is the most expensive program in the history of the Italian military, overtaking the F-35 where €18 billion was spent on 90 aircraft,” Five Star parliamentarians said in a statement.

Italy is a member alongside the U.K. and Japan of the sixth generation GCAP fighter team which aims to put a new jet into service by 2035.

The document with the new pricing of Italy’s share in the program was sent this month to the defense commission of the Italian senate, where it is due to be discussed on Tuesday before a vote to approve the text is taken, likely next week.

The document will also be voted on by the defense commission of the lower house of parliament. It will likely be approved in the commissions due to the majority enjoyed in both by Meloni’s coalition government.

The document is an update on a previous version submitted to parliament in 2021, which said Italy would pay out €6 billion to cover its share of Phase1 and 2 of the program - respectively ‘Concept Assessment and Preliminary Design’, followed by ‘Full Development’.

The new document states the outlay, “which was initially estimated to be €6 billion for program phases 1 and 2 has since been updated taking into account the increase in costs in technology maturation, testing and development and design, to an estimated €18.6 billion (at 2025 prices).”

The document, which has been seen by Defense News, reported that €2 billion in funding had already been secured, partially covering Phase 1. A further €16.6 billion was therefore needed to complete Phases 1 and 2, it added.

The document contains a request for approval for funding worth €8.8 billion to be dispensed in annual payments stretching out to 2037.

The remaining €7.8 billion required to hit the €16.6 billion total would be arranged at a future date, the document added.

In its statement, the Five Star party wrote, “We don’t doubt the value of this program, but it is not acceptable that our parliamentary commissions are used as cash dispensers which issue billions like peanuts, without even supplying an in-depth and detailed explanation of this enormous increase in the expected expenditure.”

During a Jan. 16 meeting in Tokyo between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae, the two leaders “expressed satisfaction for the progress of the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP),” and confirmed “the importance of achieving the goal of delivering the first aircraft in 2035.”

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——意大利国防部长向议会表示，过去五年里，意大利在三国联合研制的GCAP战斗机的设计和开发上的投入增加了两倍，从60亿欧元增加到186亿欧元（或从70亿美元增加到218亿美元）。

此次提价公告是在向议会提出授权支付请求时发布的，这引发了意大利反对党五星运动的批评。

“这是意大利军方历史上最昂贵的项目，超过了F-35项目，该项目耗资180亿欧元，购买了90架飞机，”五星运动党议员在一份声明中表示。

意大利与英国和日本同为第六代GCAP战斗机团队的成员，该团队的目标是在2035年之前将新型喷气式飞机投入使用。

本月，意大利已将包含其在该计划中所占份额新定价的文件送交意大利参议院国防委员会，该委员会将于周二对此进行讨论，之后可能会在下周进行投票表决以批准该文本。

该文件还将提交下议院国防委员会进行表决。由于梅洛尼领导的联合政府在两个委员会中都占据多数席位，因此该文件很可能获得通过。

该文件是对 2021 年提交给议会的先前版本的更新，该版本称意大利将支付 60 亿欧元，用于支付其在该计划第一阶段和第二阶段的份额——分别是“概念评估和初步设计”，以及随后的“全面开发”。

新文件指出，支出“最初估计第一阶段和第二阶段的预算为 60 亿欧元，但考虑到技术成熟、测试、开发和设计成本的增加，预算已更新为估计 186 亿欧元（按 2025 年价格计算）。”

《防务新闻》看到的这份文件显示，已落实20亿欧元资金，部分用于第一阶段。文件还补充说，因此还需要166亿欧元才能完成第一阶段和第二阶段。

该文件包含一项申请，请求批准拨款 88 亿欧元，分年度支付，直至 2037 年。

文件还补充说，为达到166亿欧元的总额，剩余的78亿欧元将在未来某个日期安排筹集。

五星运动党在声明中写道：“我们不怀疑这项计划的价值，但我们无法接受的是，我们的议会委员会被当作提款机，随意发放数十亿资金，却连预期支出大幅增加的原因都未提供深入详细的解释。”

1 月 16 日，意大利总理乔治亚·梅洛尼和日本首相早苗隆一在东京举行会晤，两位领导人“对全球作战航空计划 (GCAP) 的进展表示满意”，并确认“实现 2035 年交付首架飞机的目标的重要性”。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。