(by Andrea Pinto) The Undersecretary of State for Defense, honorable Angelo #Tofalo yesterday on the facebook profile thundered against his defense minister, Elisabetta Trenta: "I tried for a year to stand next to Minister Trenta and to explain to her that the enemy is not Salvini, or who knows who else, but who, within the apparatus, wants to continue to act without the address and political control. Unfortunately, badly recommended, he decided to make different evaluations". Today the reply of the Movement: "The public statements made by Undersecretary Tofalo against Minister Trenta are very serious and the whole M5S takes its distance. This is a personal initiative of the undersecretary, who surprised us and in no way represents the position of the leaders of the Movement, let alone the elected in parliament and in the respective defense committees of the Chamber and Senate".
Tofalo, Trenta and F-35
Who knows what the Undersecretary, Tofalo, was referring to. One of the many moments of friction with the Trenta occurred when Undersecretary Tofalo had publicly stated that the F-35 aircraft had to go ahead with the acquisition program. In particular, at the end of 2018, during a conference in the Chamber entitled "Collective defense: the top figures", he said: "In Italy, in these years, it has been talked about in a distorted way. The F-35 program, which is now ahead and there for over 20 years, unlike what someone has often said, is an aircraft that has excellent technology, perhaps the best in the world right now. It is normal that we have to do some calculations, both economically and technologically. But it remains obvious that we cannot give up a great air capacity for our Aeronautics that, still today, puts us ahead of the other Countries".
Tofalo's statements had arrived after he had visited all the structures already operating in Italy dedicated to the fifth-generation jet. In particular, Tofalo had visited the Final Assembly and Check Out - #FACO - of Novara. 
The plant, under the direction of the Leonardo Aircraft Division, was dedicated to the production of the F-35 wing boxes for all aircraft sold in Europe.
It is no coincidence that Minister Trenta today at the "question time" in the Senate said: "At the moment, the Dicastery is authorized to proceed with the completion of the first phase of the project which will see the construction and delivery of 28 aircraft within the 2022 - the aircraft so far delivered are 13 - whose contracts have been fully funded as per Joint Program requests Office. The various divisions of the Ministry of Defense involved are examining the consequences (on a capacitive and industrial and occupational level) of the possible scenarios deriving from the eventual re-modulation of the acquisition profile of the aircraft, or the level of participation in the program. Decisions on the future of the program cannot, however, in the light of strategic international, industrial and occupational implications, be referred to the Ministry of Defense alone. In fact, I believe that a choral evaluation is necessary in this regard to allow the Executive to consistently support a representative position of a commitment that is in fact long term.".
From what has been said, the Minister of Defense deals with the question of the F-35 as the Table "... choral evaluation of the executive ...". Crazy!!! National defense is not a great work but it is one of the highest tasks enshrined in the "Constitution". In this regard, it should be remembered that in a few years 240 aircraft between aeronautics and navy will end their operational cycle and will become unusable "pieces of iron". How will the air force guarantee the defense of national airspace - the main task of the armed force -, that is, participate in joint and combined international missions, without aircraft?
The same applies to the navy which will have to replace its AV-8 with 15 F-35B. Necessary and partly hosted aircraft by the new flagship “Trieste"(Worth about 1200 million euros, the result of the sumptuous Naval Law), celebrated by the same minister in Castellammare di Stabia days ago, in the presence of the vice-president of Campania Luigi Di Maio and the president of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella.
Apparently the Minister Trenta has confused ideas about the Defense ministry and its institutional tasks.
The Parade "Peace and love"
Today, speaking of Defense, another "hitch" of the Minister of Defense in the Chamber, during the discussion of the illustrated question of the Senator of the Brothers of Italy Isabella #Rauti, on the #parata of 2 June.
The controversy broke out during the question time in the Senate room, to answer Rauti who had called the parade "a feel-good show, peace and love".
Despite the microphone being turned off, the voice of Minister Trenta was clearly heard, who said: "I didn't make the horns, I made peace and love... "
But then the president of the Senate, Maria Elisabetta Alberti #Casellati, called to order stigmatizing what happened: “This type of gesticulation is incomprehensible, it is not suitable for this Chamber”.
In the course of her questioning, Senator Fdi had criticized the theme of inclusion chosen this year for the traditional military parade at the Imperial Forums on 2 June. "An event that in itself is inclusive precisely because it takes place on the occasion of Republic Day, an anniversary that unites all Italians and, the Armed Forces are not NGOs or voluntary associations, and it is not their institutional task to combat social exclusion nor to exchange rifles for scholarships for peace, as President Conte asked and proposed".
So, he accused: "Having dedicated the 2 June parade to the issue of inclusion, it seems to us an ideological hypocrisy, a political alteration and even a failure to recognize the principal vocation of the Armed Forces. We believe that the choice ends up favoring the civil commitment as a “diminutio” of military values which are precisely those of a parade of the Armed Forces and that a military parade should celebrate. More than a parade it will be a parade, more from the rainbow colors than from the colors of the #Tricolore".
The Minister Thirty claimed the choice against "instrumentalization and interpretations of part". “The feast of the Republic - he underlined - is the feast of all the citizens and all the soldiers who represent the Republic and the values of unity that it implies. The concept of inclusion is internal to the defense. Inclusion means considering as an integral part of the defense team all the soldiers who have risked their lives for the service and who, for example, have fallen ill following their use in operational theaters. Inclusion means that, for the first time, the civilians of the Defense will participate and for the first time the selected reserve. The diversity of choices and skills is a common heritage and respecting people's self-determination is necessary for a country to remain alive and competitive, also in the consideration of solidarity for those who have paid the most for their commitment ". So he concluded: "The dedication of the parade of the Republic Day to the theme of inclusion cannot constitute a sort of deminutio of military values or a lack of recognition of the main vocation of the armed forces. Indeed, it is due thanks to all those who gave their lives and sacrificed an important part of it to serve their homeland. It is the feast of the country's heroes, including those who, having fallen ill for the service, have moved on to the civil role. In this perspective, the theme that inspired the organization of the celebrations for June 2 seems to me to be entirely consistent with the vocation of the Armed Forces and in perfect harmony with the constitution.".