Italy will cut investment in Lockheed Martin’s F-35 stealth fighter as part of an overall reduction in military spending, Defense Minister Giampaolo Di Paola said Feb. 14.
“The F-35 was revised like all the other weapons programs,” Di Paola said after a Cabinet meeting that approved the military spending plan.
Di Paolo said he would give further details of cuts to the supersonic jet program during testimony before the joint Senate and Chamber defense committees Feb. 15.
The fighter “is still an important commitment” for the country’s defense system, he added.
In 2002 Italy said it would order 131 supersonic warplanes by 2018, but since the start of 2012 Di Paola has repeatedly said he was reviewing the program as part of Prime Minister Mario Monti’s austerity plan to shore up public accounts.
The defense cuts were announced the same day as Italy refused to guarantee funding for Rome’s bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games.
“The turbulence of the financial markets doesn’t allow us to ignore the difficult financial situation” of the country, Monti said in reference to the decision not to back the Olympic bid.
Italy will ask for about 40 fewer planes, Il Sole 24 Ore daily reported Feb. 14, without citing its source.
Italy’s planned spending cuts follow those confirmed by the U.S. on Feb. 13.
The Pentagon postponed orders for 179 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters over the next five years to save $15.1 billion. It is the third restructuring by the U.S. in recent years of the F-35 project, which is its biggest current weapons program.
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