Tom Kington
Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.
All Stories By Tom
Italy’s sudden defense-spending uptick lacks details, economist finds
NATO is satisfied with Rome's proclaimed budget boost in line with alliance targets, despite questions over the internal mathematics.
Italy unveils €31 billion defense budget with NATO target in mind
The document gives a breakdown on spending for each program, but in a departure from tradition does not state the total amount of procurement funding.
Italy lines up fallback plan for freeing €12 billion defense spending
Rome’s readiness to use an EU accounting trick was signaled in a Ministry of Finance budget document issued this month.
Frigate sale to Greece turns Italy’s active warships into fast cash
The deal follows the sale by Italy to Indonesia and Egypt of vessels that were already under construction for the Italian navy.
Italy’s Avio is on track to make Standard Missile motors for Raytheon
The company has won a $26m deal from Raytheon to push on with engineering work to become a supplier of the Mk 104 dual-thrust rocket motor.
Countries flock to claim EU defense loans, Poland gets lion’s share
A top bloc official said that all the €150bn of loans had been subscribed to by 19 member states, and called the plan “a European success story.”
Leonardo snaps up Nordic cybersecurity firms in bid to shift focus
CEO Cingolani laid out the Italian defense giant’s strategy after announcing a series of new investments during the summer.
Vendors team up on sensors, comms systems for GCAP next-gen fighter
It is likely the U.K. and Japanese firms will lead on radar work, Italy will lead on Infrared Search and Track systems and Japan will lead on SATCOM.
Italy disavows plan to count massive Sicily bridge as NATO spending
Officials had mulled the idea of classifying a new bridge planned to link the Italian mainland to Sicily as a project of strategic, military importance.
Limited options may force Europe to pay US for security in Ukraine
Trump's transactional diplomacy could involve Europe paying up to $90 billion to ensure U.S. assistance to avoid another Russian invasion of Ukraine.
