In La Spezia, Italian Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini inaugurated SeaFuture 2021 (daily newspaper il manifesto, September 24), the military-naval exhibition sponsored by the main War Industries. Fincantieri ("strategic sponsor"), and Leonardo Group ("platinum sponsor") and Mbda ( a European joint venture where Leonardo Group holds the 25%) participating as "gold sponsor" were all there. The "Future" was already outlined in the "Directive for industrial defense policy" issued by Minister Guerini on July 29: Italy must "have a military instrument capable to express the advanced military capabilities that the country needs to protect its own national interests", ensuring "Italian membership to the circle of technologically and economically advanced countries ". Overturning Article 11 and other constitutional principles with the silent assent of the Parliament, the Directive noted that Italy must be increasingly armed. At the same time, it established that Italy must maintain and strengthen “strategic relationship with the United States to ensure its involvement in the technological innovation, which is one of the main incubators in the United States, to facilitate the access of Italian companies to the American market and better Italy’s position in the European context »
The line drawn by the Directive has for some time already been operational. It is enough to recall: the embarkation on the Italian Navy flagship aircraft carrier Cavour of US F-35B fighters with short take-off and vertical landing, for their use the ship was certified in Norfolk, Virginia; the decision to arm Italian submarines and frigates with cruise missiles with at least a range of 1,000 km; the decision to arm the Reaper drones Italy bought from the USA. These and other armaments, which our armed forces are equipped with, are not used for defense but for the attack. The Cavour aircraft carrier armed with F-35Bs has become an advanced military base, and deployed in distant war theaters can attack and invade a country; submarines and frigates can strike a country from a great distance with cruise missiles which, flying at very low altitude over the sea and along a land contour escape the anti-aircraft defenses; remotely guided from thousands of miles away Reaper drones can strike human "targets" with Hellfire missiles and laser or satellite-guided bombs. Italy is thus arming itself to participate in other wars under US / NATO command.
The "strategic relationship with the United States" established by the Directive is getting stronger every day. The Fincantieri group – the Italian Ministry of Economy controls 70% of it - has three shipyards in the USA, where it is building ten multi-role frigates for the US Navy and four similar warships for Saudi Arabia. Leonardo Group - the largest Italian military industry, which gets over 70% of its turnover from armaments - supplies products and services to armed forces and intelligence agencies in the US, and manages the Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter plant in Cameri (Piedmont, Italy). 30% of the Leonardo group's shareholding belongs to the Ministry of Economic Development. For this reason, the Minister of Economic Development Giancarlo Giorgetti (League Party) participated in the military exhibition in La Spezia alongside Minister Guerini (Democratic Party). Defined as an "accountant", he thought of managing the 30 billion euros already allocated by the Ministry of Economic Development for military purposes and the other requested 25 million from the Recovery Fund.
The 26 billion euros spent annually by the Ministry of Defense are no longer enough. It is necessary to reach at least 36 billion per year, as requested by NATO and reaffirmed by the USA. Just to make the math, the Cavour aircraft carrier cost 1.3 billion euros, the 15 Navy F-35Bs cost 1.7 billion, and another 15 F-35Bs and 60 nuclear-capable F-35As for the Italian Air Force have been added. There are operating expenses to follow: a day of navigation on the Cavour costs over 200,000 euros and an F-35’s hour flight is worth over 40,000 euros. It is always public money stolen from social species, and invested in weapons and wars to "protect our national interests and membership to the circle of economically advanced countries".
Written by Manlio Dinucci
