Italian Defense Minister
Roberta Pinotti said Tuesday Italy will only go through with a
deal to acquire latest-generation F35s fighter planes from
aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Martin if they're safe.
"We won't buy anything that isn't ultra safe for the
pilots. If there are problems, they need to be resolved," the
minister said at the ongoing Farnborough Air Show.
The Pentagon has authorized its F35s to take to the skies
once more for test flights after grounding them early in July
after a June 23 runway fire forced a pilot to abort takeoff at a
Florida air base.
Italy in 2012 announced plans to cut its order to 90 from
the 131 jets originally agreed to in 2002, saving the country
some five billion euros.
But there have been calls from some, including the
anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), for Italy to scrap the
order completely.
Italy's Lower House defence committee in May okayed
petition calling on the government to cut its budget for the
F-35s by 50%.
Lockheed Martin said in a statement that it estimates the
cost of the aircraft at about $108 million each, engine
included.
Allies including the United States have urged Italy to
maintain its plans to buy 90 of the aircraft, as Renzi's
government looks for ways to reallocate its spending from
lower-priority to higher-priority items.
Earlier this week, John R. Phillips, the United States
ambassador to Rome, said that because Italy has a strategic role
in regional defence, it must go ahead with its F-35 fighter-jet
purchase plan.
"I have recently been to the United States," Pinotti
eplained.
"We talked about everything, and there was a consensus that
Italy is a key ally and has always made important choices to
sustain this alliance," she concluded.
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