Italy’s Defense Minister expressed interest in the possibility of his country joining the F-X program that seeks to develop a next-generation fighter for Japan.
According to Nippon.com, Italian Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini expressed interest in the possibility of his country joining the development of the successor to the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force’s F-2 fighters during talks with his Japanese counterpart, Nobuo Kish.
Meeting Tuesday at the Japanese Defense Ministry in Tokyo, the two ministers agreed to promote defense cooperation between Japan and Italy.
They also reaffirmed the importance of sending the message together that they oppose any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by coercion, apparently with China’s hegemonic actions in mind.
In addition, Kishi and Guerini shared the view that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine constitutes a serious violation of international law. They agreed that countries with common core values should work together as one to address the Ukrainian crisis.
Is Italy moving away from Team Tempest?
Italy is currently participating in the Tempest program, together with Sweden and the UK (who is leading the program) to develop the next generation of air dominance systems. It is a program analogous to the USAF’s NGAD and the Franco-German-Spanish FCAS.
So what could this statement by Minister Guerini mean for the tri-national Tempest program?
In principle, not much. Any action Italy takes regarding its participation in the F-X project or its continuation in the Tempest team will be preceded by years of negotiations.
But some disconfort on Rome’s part with the way things are going is hinted at, because this is not the first Italian statement on the future of the program in which they are involved.
In November last year, the head of the Italian Air Force, General Luca Gorett, assured that the FCAS and Tempest programs would eventually merge, because it was illogical for Europe to invest so many resources in two programs that would yield similar results.
«But it is natural that these two realities merge into one, because investing huge financial resources in two equivalent programs is unthinkable,» Goretti told members of the Italian parliamentary defense committees that time.
But that is not the only relevant thing General Goretti said. He also commented that Italy chose to join the Tempest program because it felt it could play a more important role than in the FCAS program.
Taking these sayings into consideration, the Italian approach to the Japanese F-X program could indicate that all is not harmony within the UK-led project.
British participation in the F-X
On the other hand, UK companies are involved in the development of the F-X following an agreement between the two nations to provide technological support to accelerate the Japanese project.
Rolls-Royce will provide technical assistance to develop the engine and certain parts of the future Japanese fighter. There is also a collaborative project between Leonardo UK and Japanese companies, called JAGUAR, to develop a new generation of sensors for the F-X and Tempest fighters.
It is no secret that, for some time now, London has been actively seeking to seduce Tokyo to join Team Tempest and abandon its solo path.
The Italian approach to Japan could therefore be read in several ways. As a genuine interest in abandoning the Tempest team and exploring other options, as a gambit to force a renegotiation of its participation in the tri-national project or to build a bridge to bring the two sixth-generation fighter programs closer together to facilitate an eventual merger. Everything is open to speculation.
