Tel Aviv: Italy is enhancing the capabilities of its special mission aircraft in two ways – acquiring more such aircraft and upgrading the two existing ones.
According to some defence sources, at least two more Gulfstream G550-based CAEW (Conformal Airborne Early Warning) aircraft will soon be delivered to Italy. With this expected delivery, the Italian Air Force will soon have at least four of these aircraft built by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) based on a G-550 business jet.
Contracts were signed as recently as 2022, and funding has been set aside for both the purchase and refurbishment of these aircraft.
IAI also announced a new special mission aircraft contract with a ”significant European NATO nation” in July 2022.
Although the contract is not officially credited to Italy, defence analysts believe Italy is the buyer because of Italy’s operational needs and continuous procurement trends.
Italy currently operates two special mission aircraft delivered by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). These aircraft are equipped with advanced radar, electronic intelligence, self-defense, and communications systems developed principally by IAI’s ELTA Systems and in cooperation with Italian company Leonardo. The planes serve early warning, intelligence gathering, and strategic surveillance roles for the Italian Air Force and are valued at around $550 million under a contract signed in 2012.
This deal was part of a reciprocal procurement in which Israel procured Italian M-346 training aircraft while Italy received these advanced Israeli special mission aircraft and an optical earth observation satellite called Opsat-3000. The cooperation reflects close defence ties and technological collaboration between Italy and Israel within NATO.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
