Italian MoD publishes multi-year planning document 2019–21

The Italian Ministry of Defence published its recently approved multi-year planning document (Documento Programmatico Pluriennale: DPP) 2019–21 on its website on 5 July.

Italy's DPP 2019–21 foresees the mid-life update of the Ariete main battle tank. (Oto Melara)

The document allocates EUR21,432.2 million (USD24,046.7 million) or 1.21% of forecast GDP for 2019, EUR21,876.6 million or 1.2% of GDP for 2020, and EUR21,957.5 million or 1.17% of GDP for 2021.

More than EUR1,667 million is planned to be invested in maintaining the armed forces’ operational capabilities over the next 15 years.

Interservice programmes include New Generation Identification Friend or Foe (NGIFF), with EUR188 million planned over seven years; defence digitisation and IT security and network enhancement, with EUR524.5 million over 15 years; and military technology research into unmanned vehicles, cyber, and medicine, with EUR69.5 million over 15 years.

Approximately EUR700.3 million is planned for programmes to support the air transport fleet and interagency unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over 11 years.

EUR95 million is planned over the next five years for the development phase for short-range air defence (SHORAD) to replace the air force’s Spada, army’s Skyguard, and navy’s Albatros systems.

The DPP foresees EUR765.8 million being invested in search-and-rescue helicopters over the next 14 years, EUR243.5 million in self-protection systems for aircraft over the next 13 years, and EUR57 million in the mid-life refurbishment of the Italian Air Force’s Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles over the next four years.

EUR382 million is planned to be invested over the next seven years in an interservice light utility helicopter.