Two submarines for the Italian Navy in the midst of a crisis...

(BRUSSELS2) As reported by the Italian press (read here), the Italian army is preparing to equip itself with two new submarines, U-212. A budget of 168 million euros was approved by the three main parties (the PDL, the Democratic Party and the third pole) and included in the government's stability law. But in Italy, people talk, because after the equipment of F-35, in full crisis, the State must tighten its budget. The Italian Navy already has two submarines which are based in Taranto. The first was delivered in March 2006, the second in 2009.

For the Italian Ministry of Defense it is difficult at this stage to stop work, the contracts have already been signed. The Finance Act for 2008, with the favorable opinion of the Chamber's Defense Committee, had authorized the exercise of the option of the initial contract for the construction of two additional units.

Italy abandoned a tradition of industrial independence in the construction of submarines after the failure of the S-90 project, the successor to Sauro, opting for a joint program with Germany. This program is thus developed jointly by the Italian Fincantieri (shipyard near La Spezia) and the German Thyssen Krupp. It assumes a total investment of 2 billion euros: 1 billion euros has already been spent on the first pair of submarines, a second billion is in the process of being committed.