Panetta Reaffirms U.S. Commitment to F-35 in Italy

 U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta backed the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program during a visit to Italy, a country that last year announced plans to scale back its orders of the stealthy warplane due to defense spending cuts.

Panetta reaffirmed the Pentagon’s commitment to the multinational F-35 during a Jan. 16 meeting here with Italian Defense Minister Giampaolo di Paola.“I want to thank Italy for their participation in the Joint Strike Fighter program,” Panetta said at an appearance with di Paola at the Italian Defense Ministry. “I want Italy to know that the United States is fully committed to developing this essential fighter for the future.”

Last year, Italy announced it would reduce its F-35 order from 131 to 90 aircraft to cope with defense spending cuts. Italy and other nations across the eurozone have instituted austerity measures to cope with deficits. As these austerity measures begin to bite, the F-35 has come to represent a frequent target for groups in Italy seeking to protect social spending.

In addition, Pier Luigi Bersani, the man many expect to be the next prime minister of Italy, indicated his government would evaluate whether to make cuts to the program.

Italy's Alenia keen for involvement in Franco-British UCAV programme

Alenia Aermacchi is keen to become involved in the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) demonstrator programme being jointly developed by the UK and France via their aerospace champions BAE Systems and Dassault Aviation.

Giueseppe Giordo, chief executive of Alenia Aermacchi, believes the Franco-British alliance created by the Lancaster House treaty of November 2010 "is not a closed one" and the nations would be willing to "consider other partners to enter it".

However, Giordo cautions that Alenia would only be willing to join if it was given an equal billing with the two other manufacturers. "Clearly we will not enter with a secondary role. If the French and British can understand that another party can enter at the same level [as BAE Systems and Dassault] this will be a sound approach."

He says the Italian authorities are talking to their British and French counterparts, as well as other governments across Europe, to identify "which is the best alliance" for its involvement.

Giordo was speaking at an event to mark the second flight of the Dassault Neuron on 19 December in Istres in the south of France. Produced by six European nations and their aerospace representatives, including Alenia, the Neuron is a stealthy unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV), designed as a technology demonstrator.

The possibility has also been raised that BAE Systems could become involved in the Neuron, bringing with it technology developed for its Taranis UCAV demonstrator programme.

However, Charles Edelstenne, chief executive of Dassault, plays down this possibility. He says: "The Neuron programme has a certain number of partners and we have to go to the end of it. It is out of the question to bring in another partner."

BAE and Dassault, he says, will draw on their experiences from Neuron and Taranis to "inform" the design of FCAS.

Nonetheless, he remains open to the potential of other countries becoming involved. "Others will join or not join in the future," he says.

Italian air force stands up new Eurofighter unit

The Eurofighter combat aircraft has entered service with the Italian air force's 18 Sqn at Trapani-Birgi air base in Sicily, with the unit having been reformed following the phasing-out of its last Lockheed Martin F-16s in May.

Part of the air force's 37th Wing, 18 Sqn will be responsible for defending Italy's national airspace, alongside the service's 4th Wing at Grosseto and 36th Wing at Gioia del Colle.

The service says the unit was stood up on 18 October, with other sources saying that it has received at least eight aircraft, including four from each of its previously established Eurofighter wings.

Pilots from the reformed squadron have already participated with the other units crews during training activities, including at a German electronic warfare range during September.