Italy to cut F-35 Fighter Jet Orders by 30 percent admid Military Cuts

Italy will reduce its planned order of Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 fighter jets and trim the size of the military as part of defense-spending cuts, Defense Minister Giampaolo Di Paola told the Italian Parliament on Feb 15.

Italy will purchase 90 F-35s rather than the originally planned 131, Di Paola said in Rome in testimony before a joint defense committee of both houses of Parliament today. The nation needs to cut the military’s size by about 30,000 soldiers and 10,000 civilians, he also said.

Di Paola said Italy “has already invested 2.5 billion euros” ($3.3 billion) in the F-35, parts of which are to be provided by Finmeccanica SpA, the nation’s biggest defense contractor. “We had committed to buying 131, now the review of the program leads us to believe that the goal of 90 aircraft can be pursued, a third less,” he said.

The announcement is another blow to Bethesda, Maryland- based Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the U.S. military’s costliest program. The U.S. Defense Department will cut $1.6 billion from the F-35 program, part of $18 billion in weapons cuts proposed in the budget that President Barack Obama sent to Congress on Feb. 13 for the year beginning Oct. 1.

Di Paola said that Italy would also cut tanks, helicopters and artillery. Two army brigades will be axed, he said.

Navy vessel numbers will also be cut, with patrol vessels dropping from 18 to 10 and submarines dropping from six to four.

Without giving further details, Di Paola said that Italy’s air defense fighter numbers would also drop.

Military bases will be reduced, and Italy’s military head count will drop from 183,000 to about 150,000. Civilian staff will be cut from 30,000 to 20,000. The personnel reductions, which have been mulled for a number of years, will take place over the course of a decade, Di Paola said. Personnel cuts will be made by limiting intake and farming out personnel to other state institutions.

At a press conference on Feb. 14, Di Paola said the personnel cuts would target Italy’s top-heavy officer class. “Fewer generals, fewer admirals, more operational readiness and technology,” he said.