The Italian military-industrial complex aims to maintain its share in the global arms market
In the 80s, the Italian military-industrial complex continued to develop, which allowed the country to reduce arms imports and increase exports (" First of all, ships and planes "). However, in France, several thousand ATGMs "Milan" were purchased, in Germany – aviation PKR "Cormoran". The range of American helicopters produced in Italy under license, including for export, was replenished with the Bell-412 (AB-412) machine. 150 Stinger MANPADS and 22 MLRS M270 MLRS were also purchased directly in the United States.
Imports are supported by exports
On the basis of the American air-to-air missile AIM – 7 "Sparrow" in Italy, a weapon of a similar purpose was created - "Asp", which was part of the ship's SAM of the same name and the ground-based SAM "Spada". They (especially the ship's SAM) became another popular Italian export product, which was bought by up to 20 countries. In particular, China acquired a license for the production of the " Asp " under the name PL-11 for the PLA Air Force, and after the introduction of the European arms embargo in China, the defense factories of the Middle Kingdom began to produce it without a license as the PL-10. This missile was part of the Chinese HQ-6 and HQ-64 land-based air defense systems (export name-LY-60). Another means of air defense, created in the 80s, was the ZSU SIDAM-25, which, however,was not quite Italian and was a quad Swiss 25-mm gun "Oerlikon" KVA on the chassis of the American M113 armored personnel carrier. 275 M113s were converted to this ZSU, and they were not exported anywhere.
On the other hand, in Italy, they created samples of equipment intended only for export. So, on the basis of the German tank "Leopard-1" developed the tank OF-40, the only buyer of 36 cars was the army of the United Arab Emirates. On the chassis of this tank, a 155-mm self-propelled gun "Palmaria" was designed, the main importer of which was Libya: Tripoli paid for the supply of 210 self-propelled guns. At least 28 of these self-propelled guns have been lost in the fighting going on in Libya since 2011.
Also, the Palmaria self-propelled guns entered service with the Nigerian Armed Forces, the towers were delivered to Argentina. In addition, Italian designers have created a family of MLRS "Firos". The Firos-6 variant (48x51 mm, towed or mounted on light vehicles and armored personnel carriers) was sold to Mexico, while the Firos-25 variant (40x122 mm, actually a copy of the Soviet Grad) entered service with the UAE Army.
Finally, the S-211 training aircraft became a purely export aircraft, it was produced in the amount of a little more than 60 machines, almost half were assembled under an Italian license in Singapore.
First of all – aviation and fleet
In the early 80's, the Italian Air Force began to receive the Tornado fighter-bomber, developed in cooperation with the gunsmiths of Great Britain, Germany and Italy. In fact, it was a pure bomber ("Tornado" IDS), only in the UK there was a modification of the interceptor "Tornado" ADV. Italy leased 24 such interceptors in 1995-2004, the Italian Air Force received 99 "Tornado" IDs, today there are about 70 of them (including several machines in storage). The Italian Air Force lost one aircraft on the first day of Operation Desert Storm.
“ Having lost almost 140 F-104s in disasters, the Italian Armed Forces nevertheless held the record for the longest stay of these flying coffins in service – Italian pilots lifted them into the air until 2004 ”
For the Italian Navy in the 80s-early 90s, eight diesel submarines of the "Nazario Sauro" type were built, at that time they were one of the most advanced submarines in the world (now 4 remain in service), the aircraft carrier "Giuseppe Garibaldi", two destroyers of the "De la Penne" type and they are still in service, of the eight built frigates of the "Maestrale" type, only four are now in service, of the eight missile ships produced in 1980-1983 Of the eight Minerva – class corvettes, four are in reserve, four have been sold to Bangladesh, and four Cassiopeia-class minesweepers are in service, four Lerici-class minesweepers are now two in service and in reserve, and three San Giorgio-class DVKDs are still in service in the Navy. Thus, the current composition of the Italian Navy was largely formed just then, in the 80s. The aircraft carrier "Giuseppe Garibaldi", introduced into the fleet of the Italian Republic in1985, was equipped with American VTOL AV-8B "Harrier II", while unlike other Western aircraft carriers, "Garibaldi" carries a significant amount of other weapons,including the Otomat missile defense system.
In addition, the Lerici-class minesweepers were built for the Nigerian and Malaysian fleets, missile and patrol boats-for Ecuador and Thailand. Four Lupo-class frigates and six Assad-class corvettes were built for the Iraqi Navy. In connection with the arms embargo imposed on Baghdad in the 90s, the frigates were transferred to the Italian Navy, and four corvettes were sold to Malaysia.
In the 90s, almost all over the world, a reduction in military spending, military production and the number of armed forces began. It also affected Italy. Military imports to the Apennines were significantly reduced. In addition to the "Harriers" for the light aircraft carrier "Giuseppe Garibaldi" and an additional number of ATGM "Tow", various high-precision aircraft weapons of American and Israeli production were purchased. Italy still exported helicopters, naval weapons, radars for various purposes, and Asp missiles of all variants. In the United States, 12 Osprey-class minesweepers were built on the basis of the Lerici project. There was also a gradual sale of used American-made weapons – M47 tanks, M113 armored personnel carriers, minesweepers and other imported weapons.
For the Italian Navy, the shipbuilders of the company Intermarine built eight minesweepers of the type "Gaeta" - an improved version of the mine finder of the type "Lerici", similar ships were delivered to Thailand and Australia. Japan bought three PG-01 hydrofoil missile boats from Italy, similar to the Sparviero.
In the 90s, the Italian army received the C1 Ariete tank, created on the basis of the German Leopard-2 OBS. It was supposed to buy 700, but in reality 200 cars were built. At the same time, the combat units were equipped with a wheeled BMTV B1 "Centauro", equipped with a 105-mm gun, it is often referred to as a wheeled tank.
In the army aviation of the Italian Armed Forces, 60 A-129 "Mongoose" attack helicopters appeared, they were also produced in Turkey under the code T-129. For the country's Air Force, 110 combat and 26 combat training fighter-bombers of joint Italian-Brazilian development have been produced – they are sometimes classified as AMH attack aircraft. The plane turned out to be quite mediocre, but it was used in the NATO aggression against Yugoslavia in 1999. Now in service and in storage of the Italian Air Force remains about a hundred AMX.
Self-reliance
In the twenty-first century, the Italian Defense Ministry carried out the rearmament of the army, and primarily at the expense of its own production equipment, while, however, the military faced the typical underfunding of the defense sector for the vast majority of NATO countries.
Armored vehicles for the Italian army were then purchased mainly of their own production. 200 VCC-80 Dardo tracked infantry fighting vehicles and 560 Puma wheeled vehicles (180 BRM, 380 BTR) were purchased. In the process of purchasing are wheeled vehicles " Freccia "(created on the basis of the BMTV "Centauro", produced in versions of the armored personnel carrier, KShM, self-propelled mortar, medical vehicle) and light armored vehicles LMV. The latter are widely exported abroad, 358 such machines called "Lynx" are produced under license in Russia, 401-in the UK, where they are called "Panther". In Afghanistan, the Italian army lost four LMVs, and another in Somalia. The M113 APCs and their VCC-1/2 "relatives" are increasingly being sold out of the army's availability. In addition, the sale of cars "Puma", recognized as unsuccessful, has already begun. Spain, Oman and Jordan purchased the Centauro BMTV – the Jordanian military received combat vehicles from the presence of the Italian army. At the same time, the Italian ground forces are expected to purchase 120 new Centauros with a 120-mm cannon.
The only imported examples of armored vehicles were 148 BVS-206 articulated APCs from Sweden and nine AAV-7 floating APCs from the United States (LVTP-7s were also upgraded to the level of these vehicles). In Germany, 70 RzN-2000 self-propelled guns were purchased, in France – 139 120-mm MO-2RT mortars, while almost all M109 self-propelled guns were sold (Pakistan became the main consumer of Italian ground equipment in the XXI century). Also in France, they bought an additional number of ATGM "Milan", and in Israel – ATGM" Spike "in several versions, including for installation on the machines" Dardo"," Freccia", LMV and A-129 helicopters. Ground-based air defense received SAMP/T SAMs, created jointly with France.
Having lost almost 140 F-104s in disasters, Italy nevertheless proved to be the record holder for the duration of the stay of these flying coffins in service – Italian pilots lifted them into the air until 2004. Instead, 38 F-16A/B were received for temporary use from the US Air Force (and four more as spare parts donors). Of these, six crashed, three remained as monuments, and the rest were returned to the States in 2010-2012. The main aircraft of the Italian Air Force in the XXI century was the Typhoon fighter-bomber, created jointly with Great Britain, Germany and Spain. According to the initial plans, it was supposed to buy 165 Typhoons, then the list was cut and brought to 121 aircraft, but they did not stop there and finally reached 96 machines (now their production is completed). In addition, Italy became a participant in the program for the creation of the American fifth-generation fighter F-35, and was the only country where this aircraft is produced under license. Initially, it was planned to purchase 69 F-35A for the Air Force and 62 VTOL F-35B for naval aviation, then the program was reduced to 60 and 30 machines, respectively. To date, twelve F-35A and three F-35B have been produced. In the future, Italian aircraft designers are expected to participate in the creation of a sixth-generation Tempest fighter together with the United Kingdom and Sweden.
Also in the United States, four KC-767 air tankers, 16 C-130J transporters, aviation weapons, a variety of UAVs, including MQ-9 "Reaper"combat vehicles, were purchased. In Italy, the Falco piston UAV has been developed – in addition to reconnaissance equipment, the drone can carry two light missiles, a Nibbio jet for reconnaissance and electronic warfare, as well as light, hand-launched reconnaissance drones Strix-C and Krex-B, made according to the "flying wing" scheme. The Italians are quite actively selling the Falco double-girder high-altitude plane abroad.
The range of helicopters intended for their own armed forces and for export has been expanded with the light AW-119 (a development of the A-109) and the multi-purpose AW-101 (aka EN-101, mainly used in naval aviation) and AW-139. Italy is also participating in the project to create a European helicopter NH-90 in transport and anti-submarine versions. Based on the G-222, the C-27 Spartan transport aircraft was created, which was purchased by the Air Forces of more than 10 countries, including the United States. Together with Russian designers, the Italians developed a training jet. As a result, the project was divided into the Russian, where the UBS Yak-130 appeared, and the Italian, the crown of which was the UBS M-346. Both aircraft entered the Air Force of their countries and were successfully exported. Poland, Israel, and Singapore became buyers of the M-346,and it is expected to be purchased by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.
According to the German project 212, four Salvatore Todaro-class submarines were built in Italian shipyards. The Italian Navy commissioned the aircraft carrier "Cavour". Like the Garibaldi, in addition to Harriers and helicopters, it carries a significant amount of other weapons (although without RCC), and can also be used as a UDC, with four landing craft on board.
According to joint projects with France, two Andrea Doria-class destroyers and eight Bergamini-class frigates were created for the Italian navy (two more were immediately sold to Egypt). In addition, from seven to sixteen patrol ships of the Paolo Emilio Taon di Revel type will be built, which are actually full-fledged frigates, since they carry the entire range of artillery and missile weapons.
In 2017, the Iraqi Navy received from Italy the two remaining Assad-class corvettes, as well as four patrol boats. For Algeria, the DVKD was handed over according to an improved project of the Italian ships of the San Giorgio type. Three missile corvettes were built by Italy for the UAE Navy.
In general, Italy retains a fairly high military and military-industrial potential, and the second is much higher than the first.
Alexander Khramchikhin, an independent military expert
The newspaper "Military-Industrial Courier", published in issue # 5 (868) for February 9, 2021
