Armament is accelerating in Italy: Billions of Euros of additional budget for the F-35 program!

According to the information on the website of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the parliament, the new draft ministerial decree on the multi-year rearmament program aims to purchase the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) weapon system and strengthen the relevant industrial and technological maintenance center in Cameri in the north of the country.

La Repubblica newspaper also announced the news to its readers with the title "The government is accelerating rearmament and the procurement of new F-35s."

In the newspaper's report, it was stated that with this request of the government, the cost of the F-35 fighter jet program increased by 7.3 billion euros and rose from the 13.5 billion euros predicted in 2009 to 20.8 billion euros.

The news noted that the number of aircraft initially planned to be purchased was determined as 131, but this number would eventually become 115.

It was stated that the Parliament's Defense Commission, to which the government requested approval, had until December 13 to examine the proposal.

Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper also wrote that the cost of the new F-35 warplanes program for the Italian Armed Forces and the strengthening of the Cameri industrial facility where the aircraft are assembled has increased by 7.3 billion euros to the Italian state.

In the newspaper's report, it was stated that the cost of the program, which was approved in 2009 with an initial budget of 13.5 billion euros, increased to 20.8 billion euros due to "some necessary revisions, the increasing costs of technological updates to the weapon system, and the inflation recorded in recent years and fluctuations in the euro-dollar exchange rate."

Opposition Green and Left Alliance (AVS) MP Angelo Bonelli also claimed that the Meloni government was cutting pensions, schools and cyber security measures to buy new F-35s.