Read more about the article Italy Might Join the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) Initiative
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Italy Might Join the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) Initiative

On 24 August, La Tribune reported that France and Italy agreed on proposing to Germany Rome’s inclusion, represented by Leonardo, a prominent Italian defence company, in the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) programme (Cabirol, 2023). The MGCS aims to develop a future land warfare system that includes a Main Battle Tank (MBT) around 2040 (Oestergaard, 2021). This news was unsurprising since Italian participation had already been envisaged (Valpolini, 2020; Arivella & Moran, 2022). Until now, Paris has opposed the inclusion of other states. However, this move reflects an effort to restore balance in the initiative’s power dynamics, taking advantage of the fruitful history of Franco-Italian defence industrial cooperation (Defence Industry Europe, 2023; Meta Défense, 2023).

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1 September 2023
Read more about the article Italy & Saudi Arabia: From Arms Embargo to Enhanced Diplomatic Ties
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Italy & Saudi Arabia: From Arms Embargo to Enhanced Diplomatic Ties

On 31 May 2023, the Italian government announced an end to the embargo on the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia (Armellini & Adler, 2023). Italy maintained the ban between 2019 and 2020 following the escalation of Saudi Arabia’s violence against the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group in Yemen (Middle East Monitor, 2023)

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4 July 2023
Read more about the article How Italian Military Expenditure Reveals Rome’s Defence Strategy
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How Italian Military Expenditure Reveals Rome’s Defence Strategy

At the end of July 2022, the Italian Ministry of Defence presented to the Parliament the yearly Documento Programmatico Pluriennale (DPP), a policy paper outlining both the provisional and final defence budget for the 2022 fiscal year and the 2022-2024 triennia. The document offers insight into the activities involving the Ministry of Defence, as it defines the political priorities that the Ministry’s technical and administrative apparel must implement through the management of the allocated financial resources.

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7 September 2022
Read more about the article New and Old Issues in Space Security: from Space Debris Removal to Italy’s Call for Satellite Protection
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New and Old Issues in Space Security: from Space Debris Removal to Italy’s Call for Satellite Protection

Following the recognition by Italy of space as a domain for military operations, the country must increase the robustness and the protection of its satellites. This decision aligns with international and transnational organisations of which Italy is a member, such as the European Space Agency (ESA) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). The problem to be tackled is active attacks in space and the always present issue of space and orbital debris.

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20 May 2022
Read more about the article COSMO-SkyMed: Second Generation satellite launched
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COSMO-SkyMed: Second Generation satellite launched

On 1 February 2022, the second satellite of the COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation (CSG) constellation was successfully launched at 00.11 CET from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida (USA), with a SpaceX Falcon 9 carrier. COSMO-SkyMed (COnstellation of small Satellites for Mediterranean basin Observation) is the first dual system civil and military, of terrestrial observation radar satellites. It is the Italian component of an Italian-French system resulting from the Turin agreement, a bilateral intergovernmental agreement signed in 2001. In its final configuration, the bilateral system ORFEO has 4 Italian X-band radar satellites, COSMO-SkyMed, and 2 French optical satellites, Pleiades, thus increasing overall capacities.

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14 February 2022