Italy plans out $15B-plus spending on dozens of F-35s and Eurofighters

BELFAST — Italy expects to dole out billions more in defense spending on Lockheed Martin F-35 fifth-generation and Eurofighter Typhoon fourth-generation combat jets under targets laid out in a new multi-year military spending document.

Published on Monday, the defense ministry paper [PDF] sets out 2024-to-2026 funding plans and notes that 25 additional F-35 aircraft will be procured at an estimated value of €7 billion ($7.8 billion). The new order, which also includes related items like engines and logistics support is split between 15 F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) models for the Italian Air Force and 10 Italian Navy F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) platforms.

The document says the move will be made to meet the “operational needs” of the Italian armed forces and will bring the country’s total fleet up to 115 aircraft, according to an online translation. Though that’s still short of a targeted 131-plane fleet, it says the buy will “improve Italy’s geopolitical positioning” in the context of European security. (F-35 maker Lockheed Martin says that Rome currently has 60 F-35As and 30 F-35Bs.)

Funding of €1.9 billion ($2.1 billion) has already been allocated to support the F-35 order, alongside €60 million ($67 million) for “adaptation” at Grottaglie air base, which is being prepared to host Italian Navy F-35B jets.

Additionally, 24 Eurofighters, built to the new Tranche 4 configuration, are to be procured as a replacement for 26 older Tranche 1 models, designated F-2000 in Italian service, at an estimated cost of €6.9 billion ($7.7 billion). The older Typhoons are set to be phased out in 2029. Approval for a ministerial decree for such an acquisition is currently “in progress,” the spending document says.

The plan to acquire additional Typhoons formally commenced in July, based off a government motion to do so, reported Janes.

Elsewhere, the spending document reveals that a payment of €550 million ($611 million) has been committed to by Italy for the sixth-generation Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) with the UK and Japan, though there is no indication of how the funding will be spent exactly.

That investment in GCAP R&D “aims to guarantee” Italy’s position in the international program and to allow local industry access to “final development,” of the future fighter, the document says.