(by Andrea Pinto) The Minister of Defense, Elisabetta Trenta, guest of "Circo Massimo", on Radio Capital, said that the F35 program "it will be revised, but the procedures for the revision and the conditions will be treated directly by Conte together with Trump. Resized? It can mean changing pace, acquiring, or buying less".
Therefore, the media campaign against a weapon system that has become a symbol of populism continues. The F-35 is identified as the evil of evils, without evaluating the technical aspects and the specificities of the aircraft which, in the end, it costs as much as other defense systems acquired by the Defense (Naval Law, Future Soldier, etc.). In this regard, it is advisable to read carefully the 2018-2020 multi-year Planning Document for Defense, easily available on the web.
Attacking a strategic solution already considered "suitable" by an Armed Force, the Air Force, demonstrates unparalleled institutional superficiality in republican history. It should be remembered that the F-35 program has already undergone stringent assessments by the Defense Commissions, has been approved by Parliament and the Court of Auditors has also expressed itself.
In August 2017 a report by the Court of Auditors said that "the option to downsize national participation in the program, although not subject to contractual penalties per se, determines a series of negative effects, the loss of investments made up to now (several billion euros) and the obvious loss of jobs ".
Returning to the F-35 program every other day to be able to gain political accreditation is a path that could prove to be a boomerang, because the Italians are not stupid and trust what the Air Force and the Navy have always communicated. Ninety F-35s will replace, in the short to medium term, about 240 aircraft including Tornado, AMX and AV8 - now at the end of their operational life. The F-35 is a fifth generation aircraft necessary both for its undoubted operational capabilities and to be able to communicate with other allied partners with a common and net-centric platform.
The 12 last March thus the chief of staff of the Air Force, general Alberto Rosso, regarding the F-35: <on a political level, the number of aircraft authorized in this first phase is 28, we have 11 and a half, now we are waiting ”. "This aircraft is the future, any slowdown or decline in the number would be worrying not only for us but also for the national industry given the economic impact that the program brings">>.
The fighter was produced in 382 copies all over the world. Less than 800 pilots were qualified and 180 hours flown. Numbers, underlined Rosso, "which indicate that the F35 is no longer a prototype. In Italy we have 11 and a half, the twelfth is close to delivery. We have qualified 25 pilots and just under 250 maintenance specialists. It is inserted in the air defense device, the pilots are enthusiastic about it, it has capacities that touch on science fiction, they go beyond our imagination, it is a means that makes the whole Air Force grow». Rosso then added, «the aircraft is perfectly integrated with NATO systems. If we took a Russian plane instead, it would be completely out of the system».
The issue of F-35 was also discussed in the last one Supreme Defense Council. The highest military assembly in the Republic has deepened the status of the process of reform and modernization of the National Military Instrument and has underlined the character of continuity, including financial, which must necessarily characterize the modernization programs that develop over particularly long time horizons. So then the statement released by the Quirinale stated: "The limited financial resources make it necessary to proceed, with speed and determination, in the process of rationalization of the Armed Forces, concentrating resources on the capacities really necessary for the fulfillment of the primary tasks to guarantee the security of the Country". So even the Head of State would be pressing the government to proceed with the payments of the agreements already concluded. The reference was to the 389 million euro defense payments delay precisely for the F-35 program.
Italy would lose more than it would save, because about 80 companies in our country are involved in the project, the Cameri plant was chosen as a logistics and maintenance hub and the whole operation should general jobs initially estimated between 3.586 and 6.395 unit. The economic return, at the end of the games, will cancel, over time, the expense incurred for the acquisition of all 90 F-35.
In Italy we are discussing the F-35, when the foundations should already be laid for joining programs of sixth generation aircraft, operational in twenty years. An aerial program for study, design, development and production takes at least twenty years. Germany, France and Spain recently formed a consortium for the sixth generation aircraft FACS. Britain is already working on the aircraft Tempest. A program, the English one, to which Italy should look with greater interest, considering the important presence of Leonardo with its own factories in Anglo-Saxon territory.
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