Sensors for air defense against ballistic threats, Samp T batteries, anti-ship missiles, anti-drone technologies, land artillery. For the Italian armaments of the future, over 22 billion will be needed in investment, reaching beyond 2031.
The figures of the Multiannual Programmatic Document 2026-2028 - with which the Ministry of Defense presents the financial and strategic planning of the Armed Forces to Parliament - under the lens of the Defense Commission. According to the document, the Defense budget for the 2026 financial year shows, when compared with 2025, a slight increase of 3.6% on an annual basis, mainly due to the adjustment of some costs.
The overall volume of the ordinary Defense budget for the financial year 2026 amounts to 32 billion and 415 million euros; for 2027 and 2028, the forecast allocations amount to 32 billion 718 million euros and 32 billion and 82 million euros respectively. In two years, according to the calculation, there are 400 million more.
Therefore, it is specified, "the 2026-2028 Budget Law has brought about refinancing generally in line with expectations in sectors such as operations and personnel, but does not support the impulse towards modernization and renewal registered in the recent past". Furthermore, the increase in resources does not allow "to effectively support the needs of the sector, impacting both the efficiency levels of the vehicles and systems supplied and the possibility of carrying out suitable exercise activities, impacting, in short, the readiness of the Armed Forces".
In reference to the impact of the aid to Kiev on the Defense budget, we read that "this situation derives from the progressive accumulation of spending savings objectives and on the other hand from the partial compensation to the Armed Forces for the resources connected to the support of the government authorities of Ukraine". Finally, "the effort to be made in the reconstitution of adequate levels of strategic stocks of materials, ammunition and critical equipment is significant, the immediate availability of which is decisive in contexts characterized by prolonged crises or conflicts". Regarding the fund for international missions, it is again explained that despite some increases, these continue "to be insufficient to fully support the required operational output".
The document also underlines the need for a 'defense shield', "which today represents an essential element for national security and sovereignty", which "will have to guarantee defense and deterrence in the national airspace, strengthening the integration of command and control capabilities and air and missile defense, including ballistic, in coherence with the NATO architecture". The shield therefore also serves to "strengthen deterrence, increase international credibility and contribute to the stability of spaces of strategic interest".
In the annex, under the heading 'research and development', there are investments in the G-Cap, the ambitious development of the new generation fighter in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Japan: 875 million in 2026, 695 in 2027 and 152 million in 2028 while between 2029 and 2031 there will be 866 million. In the following years, another six billion and 179 million are expected, with the financing expiring in 2037.
