With this program, Italy’s Marina Militare is also set to become the first operator to employ the Joint Strike Missile on the F-35B.
Earlier this month, the Italian government requested the approval of the multi-year program for the acquisition of new advanced weapons for the Italian Navy’s F-35B fleet. The program is required as part of the acquisition of the Full Operational Capability of the embarked 5th gen aerotactic component of the service.
The document, submitted on Jul. 4, 2024, says the request will be evaluated by the Commission for Foreign Affairs and Defense and the Commission for Balance, with a decision expected by Aug. 13. The program’s documents mention the acquisition of both weapons and self-protection systems which will bring the system to the current technological state of the art.
The plan envisaged the program “aims to equip the country with a 5th generation aviation weapon system capable of replacing the legacy AV-8B line, with an operational time horizon of at least 30 years, to effectively face the increasing complexity of current and future operational scenarios.” The Italian Navy is currently replacing its AV-8B+ Harriers with 15 F-35Bs, joining forces when needed with 15 other F-35Bs being delivered to the Italian Air Force.
Guided bombs
The list of weapons shows three weight classes for Guided Bomb Units, beginning with the 250 lbs GBU-53 Small Diameter Bomb II. Earlier this year, the U.S. State Department approved the Foreign Military Sale (FMS) of the GBU-53/B to Italy, although it wasn’t specified which service acquired the weapons. It is possible that the FMS was for the Air Force and a new one will be requested for the Navy once the program is approved.
For the 500 lbs class, the document mentions the acquisition of the BLU-111 together with the kits for the conversion to the GBU-12 Paveway II, GBU-38 JDAM and GBU-54 Laser JDAM variants. The warheads are most probably the BLU-111A/B used by the U.S. Navy, which adds to the thermally insensitive explosive filler of the BLU-111B a thermal-protective coating to reduce cook-off chances in fires aboard aircraft carriers.
For the 1,000 lbs class, the document mentions the acquisition of the BLU-110 together with the kits for the conversion to the GBU-32 JDAM variant. Similarly to the smaller BLU-111, the BLU-110 is the U.S. Navy’s Mk-83 variant with a thermally insensitive explosive and a thermal-protective coating.
It is worth noting that these weapons were also employed by the Italian Harriers, with the only exception being the GBU-53 SDB II. The list then continues with the forward firing weapons, with two new weapons that were not announced in previous occasions.
Forward firing weapons
The list begins with the air-to-air weapons, which include the AIM-9X Sidewinder, the AIM-120 AMRAAM and the Meteor BVRAAM. The plans for the use of these weapons on the Italian F-35Bs were already known, with the FMS approved for the AIM-9X Block II and the AIM-120C-8, while the Meteor is being integrated specifically on both British and Italian F-35s.
The previously undisclosed weapons, both air-to-ground, are the Joint Strike Missile and the SPEAR 3. Interestingly, Italy seems to be the first to integrate the JSM on the F-35B, as the other buyers so far selected the weapon for the F-35A and F-35C variants.
The JSM is the air-launched variant of the NSM (Naval Strike Missile), designed to designed to fit into the larger internal weapons bays of the F-35A and C variants, while the B can only carry it externally. The weapon can be employed against highly defended and high-value assets during both ASuW (Anti-Surface Warfare) and land attack missions, with a range of 150 nautical miles.
As for the SPEAR 3 ((Selective Precision Effects at Range Capability 3) air-to-surface missile, Italy and the UK announced its integration on the F-35B in 2021, together with the Meteor air-to-air missile, however no other details were released since then about a possible acquisition. The new list of weapons for the Italian F-35Bs is the first confirmation that the integration is going ahead also for Italy.
The weapon has been defined as a network-enabled miniature cruise missile, with a range in excess of 75 NM, which integrates technology from the Brimstone 2 missile, also known as SPEAR 2, as well as folding wings. The F-35B can carry eight of these munitions internally, which can be employed against a very broad range of surface targets, guided by a multi-mode seeker.
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As the last forward firing weapon, the list also mentions rounds for the 25 mm cannon, implying that the Italian Navy is also acquiring the gun pods for its F-35B fleet. This would also make Italy the first export operator of the GPU-9/A 25 mm gun pod, as currently no plans have been disclosed to equip the British F-35s and the future Japanese aircraft with the pod.
The acquisition program
The document also provides a list of “self-protection systems”, which however are related to weapons. In fact, the list mentions inert/captive weapons, support equipment for the use of the weapons and unspecified additional weapons currently under development and certification.
The acquisition program is expected to start this year, following a multi-year model for a possible total of 14 years (2024-2037). The total cost has been defined as € 682 million, of which € 650.07 million have already been financed by the Ministry of Defense.
The document further mentions that the funds already available allow the acquisition of the weapon systems for the Initial Operational Capability, while the remaining funds allow to finalize the stockpiles for the FOC. It is also specified that completing the acquisition is required for the FOC and should be accomplished by 2030.
In the meanwhile…
Both the Italian Navy F-35Bs and AV-8B+ Harrier are taking part in the Indo-Pacific cruise of Italy’s Cavour aircraft carrier whose highlight is the participation in Pitch Black 2024 exercise. A quartet of Italian Navy STOVL jets has also rocked the airshow at Mindil Beach.
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