Italy To Add Weapons On F35 Fighter Jets

JAKARTA - Italy plans to increase weapons on some of its F35 fighter jets, according to defense ministry documents.

Reported by Reuters on Wednesday, July 17, documents that parliament should review in mid-August, estimate the purchase of weapons of 682 million euros (746 million US dollars) over a 14-year period, including guided bombs, missiles, and 25 mm cannon shells.

The program comes at a time when defense spending increases by NATO members including Italy, which separately plans a large investment in new Eurofighter jets.

Roma's defense spending is equivalent to 1.5 percent GDP below the NATO alliance's target of 2 percent.

Other European countries have sharply increased their defense budget since Moscow started its war against Kyiv in February 2022.

Government documents state that they have allocated 650 million euros for weapons programs aimed at supporting operations over a six-month conflict period.

Alessandro Marrone, defense analyst at Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) said it was a routine thing for governments to increase their arsenal, but Western countries changed their procurement plans to be ready for large-scale conflicts.

He said in the past they were at risk of running out of ammunition in context including the 1998-99 Kosovo war and the 2011 military intervention in Libya, and defense authorities aimed at avoiding similar risks in the future.

"They are gradually shifting their investment to assets for conflict with equal enemies, such as Russia, which is different from anti-terrorist or anti-gerily operations as they do in Iraq and Afghanistan," he told Reuters.