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Lockheed Martin awarded $368.2M to build six F-35s for Italy
Updated June 12, 2020
The Italian Navy's aircraft carrier Cavour finished upgrades in May to accommodate F-35 fighter planes. Photo courtesy of Italian Navy
Lockheed Martin received a $368.2 million contract to build six F-35 fighter planes for the Italian defense ministry, the Pentagon announced.
Italy will receive five F-35As and one F-35B by 2023, according to a statement from the Defense Department on Thursday.
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Italy currently has 15 F-35s in service, with plans to acquire 60 more. Lockheed Martin's facility at Cameri Air Base will undertake the new plane's final assembly and checkout.
The purchase has been a recent source of contention in Italian politics. In the past year, the minority FiveStar Party has sought a temporary halt to new acquisitions, a call amplified by the costs of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
On May 28, Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini confirmed that the purchases will continue.
Last month the 800-foot long Cavour, one of two aircraft carriers in the Italian Navy, completed a two-year, $76 million upgrade to accommodate F-35s, regarded as the most advanced fighter planes in the world.
The work included the addition of a layer of heat-resisting material to the carrier's flight deck, so the downward exhaust of the vertical-takeoff-and-landing F-35B will not melt the deck.
The Cavour will travel to the United States in the summer to receive its first F-35B planes, which currently are in testing phase at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C.
Updated June 12, 2020
The Italian Navy's aircraft carrier Cavour finished upgrades in May to accommodate F-35 fighter planes. Photo courtesy of Italian Navy
Lockheed Martin received a $368.2 million contract to build six F-35 fighter planes for the Italian defense ministry, the Pentagon announced.
Italy will receive five F-35As and one F-35B by 2023, according to a statement from the Defense Department on Thursday.
Advertisement
Italy currently has 15 F-35s in service, with plans to acquire 60 more. Lockheed Martin's facility at Cameri Air Base will undertake the new plane's final assembly and checkout.
The purchase has been a recent source of contention in Italian politics. In the past year, the minority FiveStar Party has sought a temporary halt to new acquisitions, a call amplified by the costs of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
On May 28, Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini confirmed that the purchases will continue.
Last month the 800-foot long Cavour, one of two aircraft carriers in the Italian Navy, completed a two-year, $76 million upgrade to accommodate F-35s, regarded as the most advanced fighter planes in the world.
The work included the addition of a layer of heat-resisting material to the carrier's flight deck, so the downward exhaust of the vertical-takeoff-and-landing F-35B will not melt the deck.
The Cavour will travel to the United States in the summer to receive its first F-35B planes, which currently are in testing phase at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C.
