Thanks Pietro for the link...
via HP.
More to come I'm sure. On a sidenote, I have serious questions about a buyer for their light carrier. I can't think of one country that would be interested in buying it. MAYBE Brazil. Maybe. Perhaps Indonesia. Either way its future lies in how capable a Helicopter Carrier it will be.
The cuts in the spending review could not not lose heart, even on military expenditure. According to early rumors, it is important cuts: there is even talk to divest and sell Garibaldi Italian first aircraft carrier to enter service after the ban imposed by the peace treaties. And to cut spending for the purchase of F35 fighter jets, for which the government wants to halve the level inherited from the past government: 12 but not more than 6 billion to be spent over the course of 12 years. 90 but not more than 45 aircraft, with savings expected to be around half a billion a year.Notice the diplomatic wording? They're not exiting the program, but simply cutting numbers.
The idea, then, is not to exit the Joint Strike Fighter , to which Italy contributes actively with Alenia Aermacchi (a Finmeccanica subsidiary in charge of producing the wings of the F35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter aircraft and assemble). Rather, it is yet to revise downward the number of fighter jets to buy (which at the beginning had to be 131).
More to come I'm sure. On a sidenote, I have serious questions about a buyer for their light carrier. I can't think of one country that would be interested in buying it. MAYBE Brazil. Maybe. Perhaps Indonesia. Either way its future lies in how capable a Helicopter Carrier it will be.
I think China would be interested in their light carrier... if you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteWhy not in Chile ? Or Argentina ? If it's sold cheap enough, both countries might like such a ship to help with their very long coasts. Brazil would probably not want it, especially as they announced they'd build a new CV all by themselve (and their A-4 would not be able to fly of the Garibaldi anyway, so it'd just be a pure helo-plateform). As for other nations, why not Indonesia ? Or even Vietnam, to have a similar capacity to Thailand's spanish build plateform, and something to be more visible in some contested waters...
ReplyDeletei said Brazil and Indonesia but on further reflection not even them. first they don't face a serious enough threat to justify the expense and second the economy world wide is in a hurt locker.
DeleteGiuseppe Garibaldi is getting on a bit now. And the Italians have supposedly some large amphibs (for Europe) in the pipe. I am not sure where they are budget wise. Its crewing that costs.
ReplyDeleteThat's not to say F35 isn't putting their budget under more strain.
DeleteConsidering their current security concerns you would think more OPVs and PBs would be their priority,
I would think more like Chile, Peru, Brazil or Indonesia would look into a Helicopter Carrier. They may not have harriers, but they do have enough Helicopters to support Helicopter Amphibious Assault Operations, Helicopter based, ASW,ASUW, AEW and surface attack operations. A Carrier like the Giuseppe Garibaldi (551) would be a perfect Helicopter carrier for an emerging country that wants to get in on the Helicopter Amphibious assault operations.
ReplyDelete