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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Kamikaze drones might soon change the battlefield landscape

Loitering munitions are nothing new on the battlefield, but cheaper versions could soon be a game-changer. They first started to appear in the 1980s as Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) weapons, and they were soon dubbed as “suicide drones” and “kamikaze drones”.

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Italian Army is finally able to overcome major budget hurdles and start modernization programs

Following years of financial instability, the Italian Armed Forces now lack competitiveness and preparedness on the technological aspect. According to the think tank Centro Studi Internationali (CeSI), this struggle has been mostly due to funds for procurement given to fulfil modernization in navy and air forces but not for the Army.

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The Franco-Italian Quirinale Treaty and the post-Merkel power balance: what is new for the European security and defence environment.

The long negotiations between Italy and France, started in January 2018 with President Macron’s visit to Italy’s Paolo Gentiloni, have reached their final act. After troubled years, the rise and fall of a Populist government in Italy, the pandemic, and various tensions between Italy and France, the Quirinale Treaty – named after the Italian Presidential palace in Rome – has been signed, signalling a new phase of bilateral cooperation between the two countries (Roberts, Leali, 2021).

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Read more about the article Italian – French Cooperation for the Development of a New Air Defence System
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Italian – French Cooperation for the Development of a New Air Defence System

Italy and France are committed to developing a new generation of air defence missile system. On 19 March 2021, the Director of the Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation (OCCAR), Admiral Matteo Bisceglia, signed the contract with the Italian French consortium Eurosam for the development of the next generation of surface-to-air medium-range defence system SAMP/T NG. The agreement involving the industries of these two countries was signed at the Paris office of the OCCAR on behalf of the Italian SEGREDIFESA/DNA and the French Direction Générale de l’Armement.

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