Italy could spend 25 billion to buy new weapons

The Italian government can offer a large sum for the purchase of new weapons. If Defense Minister Guido Crosetto accepts the proposals put forward by the Chiefs of Staff of the Army, Navy and Air Forces in their scheduled sessions to the Defense Committees of the House of Representatives, extraordinary investments in the military field could cost at least 25 billion euros. The Senate sees the conflict in Ukraine in the background, but an arms race that will have a significant impact on state budgets. Let’s see in detail what it’s all about, based on a report from the Mil€x Observatory, which deals with the evaluation of military spending.

Let’s start with the army. Chief of the General Staff, General Pietro Serino, submitted in detail a request for the purchase of at least 200 tanks, including a hundred Swedish CV90 vehicles (each costing at least 12 million and high maintenance costs), as well as the German Leopard. 2 tanks (worth at least 30 million each), total expenditure at least 4.2 billion euros. A demand boosting the already affluent sector will soon include new tanks from the European programs Aics (Armored Infantry Combat System for light tanks) and Mgcs (Main Ground Combat System for heavy tanks) – already funded by more than 3.7 billion euros in total expenditure forecast -. Previously, more than half a billion was invested in the modernization of 135 Dardo and 159 M113 – dozens of which were later sent to Ukraine – and almost a billion euros (980 million to be precise) for the modernization of 125 Ram cars.

However, the expenditure on armaments offered by the Navy amounts to 12 billion. Admiral Enrico Credendino, Chief of the Navy’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, a request for a “second” aircraft carrier (costing at least 1.5 billion), which will actually be the third and will also require a third F-35B air group (for 3.2 billion more – A requirement confirmed by requests made by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General Luca Goretti). Credendino secured a long list of urgent purchases of at least $7.4 billion in addition to the third aircraft carrier.

And finally, the Air Force, which is demanding 8.7 billion for new fighter-bombers. General Luca Goretti, Chief of General Staff of Italy, wants 41 more F-35s worth 8.3 billion and 25 more Typhoons worth 3.6 billion. These will include 75 F-35s planned for the Air Force, and 94 operational Typhoons will be updated.