Tom Kington
Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.
All Stories By Tom
Italy turns away Middle East-bound US military aircraft from Sicily stopover
Use of the Sigonella air base for the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran falls outside of the scope of agreements, requiring parliamentary approval in Rome.
Picking favorites: Choice of systems weighs on Italo-French naval merger
The merger is expected to be finalized by the end of 2018, but in the meantime, the companies need to tackle the thorny issue of whether the systems on board any jointly built ships would be Italian or French.
Leonardo boss calls market reaction ‘excessive’ in wake of lower forecast
Leonardo’s share price dropped by around one-fifth on Nov. 10, after the firm announced it was reducing its year end forecasts thanks to trouble in its helicopter division.
Leonardo delivers updated Falco drone to Mideast customer
Italy’s Leonardo says it has made its initial delivery of a Falco EVO drone to the aircraft’s launch customer in the Middle East.
‘Naval Airbus’ progress: Italian-French frigate pitch for Canada moves forward
France and Italy jointly designed the FREMM frigate for use by their navies, but have hitherto marketed the vessel separately around the world.
Leonardo could get shut out of joint EU defense programs — but backs them anyway
Leonardo CEO Alessandro Profumo said he was “profoundly convinced that without European programs, this industry, above all Italy’s industry, will have great difficulty in being sustainable in the long term.” Although he warned that Italy could only sign up to a European future if it was backed by strong investment by the Italian government.
‘Naval Airbus’ in Europe could lead to industry shake-up
As French and Italian officials begin a series of meetings to decide how to integrate the two nations’ naval industries, officials in Italy need to figure out what to do with Leonardo.
EU defense spending fund could cripple Italian firms
Italian firms could be denied handouts from the EU fund if Brussels favors larger German and French companies, leaving the Italian companies weaker and easy prey for takeovers.
Plan to halt migrant flow from Libya unravels amid militia fighting
An outbreak of fierce fighting in Libya between militias has revealed how Europe’s best efforts to stop hundreds of thousands of migrants sailing from Libya to Europe can unravel in the lawless country.
Joint move by Fincantieri, Naval Group in German tender signals longer-term cooperation
A joint approach in attacking foreign markets shows the French and Italian companies are cooperating, a key element in their plan to form the flagship for a European naval alliance.
