Italy to acquire 8 SIGINT electronic intelligence aircrafts

In recent years, the Italian authorities have shown exemplary voluntarism in the field of defense, notably with the announcement of a record 10% increase in defense budget in 2021, and that of many defense programs, alone or in cooperation. However, with only 1,45% of GDP devoted to its armies in 2021, the Italian defense effort remains, in proportion to its GDP, much lower than that of other European countries such as France or the United Kingdom, and still several cables away from the 2% objective imposed by NATO at the Cardiff summit.

However, Rome has multiplied the announcements in recent weeks, particularly in the area of ​​acquisitions of equipment and capabilities potentially allowing the country and its army to position themselves among the most important, and therefore the most influential, of NATO and the European Union. This is particularly the case in the naval field, with the commissioning of the aircraft carrier Trieste as well as its 20 F-35Bs in the years to come. This is also now the case for the little-publicized field of electronic intelligence, since the Italian authorities have announced their intention to acquire 8 specially equipped Gulfstream G-550 aircrafts for this SIGINT (for Signal Intelligence) missions, with a range of electronic sensors, and the appropriate processing capacities, for an overall budget of € 1,23 billion.

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