Italy lifts F-35 budget by €7.3 billion

Italy’s government is seeking parliamentary approval to increase planned investment in F-35 fighter jets by €7.28 billion, equivalent to $8.17 billion. The additional allocation would raise the overall cost of the program to about €20.8 billion, representing an increase of more than 50% compared with the previously approved budget. The request has been sent to parliament as part of a decree identified as SMD 5/2026, transmitted with an urgency designation.

The planned new investment phase is scheduled to begin next year and extend through 2039.

The F‑35 program was originally authorised in 2009 with a planned budget of about €13.5 billion and a forecast purchase of 131 aircraft.

Of the 115 aircraft, 75 will be F‑35A conventional take-off jets destined for the Italian Air Force. The remaining 40 will be F‑35B aircraft, the short take-off and vertical landing variant, which are to be split between the Air Force and the Navy.

The defence ministry links the higher cost to several factors, including the integration of new technologies and munitions, the revision of security requirements, longer technical, logistical and maintenance support, and infrastructure upgrades. Inflation and movements in the euro‑dollar exchange rate are also cited as contributing to the overall increase.

The government has asked parliament’s defence committees in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate to deliver their opinions on the decree within a set deadline in December. The urgency is presented as necessary to honour commitments made with Italian and foreign manufacturers involved in the program.

Parliamentary study services have highlighted discrepancies between the new program figures and those contained in the Defence Ministry’s 2025‑2027 multi‑year planning document. Clarifications have been requested on both the financial coverage of the additional spending and the economic returns for Italian industry, including updated information on industrial impacts and the planned enhancement of the Cameri facility.

The request for extra funding has drawn criticism from some opposition politicians. Angelo Bonelli, a deputy from Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra, has argued that the €7.3 billion earmarked for the F‑35 program should instead be directed to public services such as healthcare, education, social housing and research. He has also questioned Italy’s commitments within NATO to raise defence and security expenditure.

The expansion of the F‑35 budget comes as European countries increase defence spending in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and wider security concerns. Italy has pledged to gradually raise military expenditure and accelerate investment in advanced military capabilities, aligning its procurement plans, including the F‑35 program, with broader efforts to strengthen European defence.