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March 26, 2019 | International, Aerospace

Think tank to Italy: Join UK Tempest program, then try to merge it with Franco-German effort

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ROME — A leading Italian think tank is pressuring the country to enter Britain's Tempest fighter program as soon as possible and then push for the project to merge with a rival Franco-German effort.

The proposal by the IAI think tank in Rome comes as the Italian government deliberates over what air power it will need in the 2030s, around the time when the Tempest could take to the skies.

The British program was announced last year as France and Germany started work on their own Future Combat Air System, raising the prospect of European neighbors working, yet again, on rival aircraft, following parallel developments of the Eurofighter, Rafale and Gripen.

To avoid that, IAI stated in a paper published this week, the Tempest project, with Italy on board, “should in the midterm merge with the Franco-German project for the benefit of European defence and strategic autonomy.”

The industrial team involved in the Tempest program already includes Italy's Leonardo, thanks to its large-scale operation in the U.K., and an Italian junior defense minister has called for Rome to become a national partner on the fighter project, although wariness over defense spending in Rome means there's been no official commitment.

Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2019/03/22/think-tank-to-italy-join-uk-tempest-program-then-try-to-merge-it-with-franco-german-effort/

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