PAKISTAN AND ITALY AGREE TO EXPLORE JOINT DEFENCE PRODUCTION

[Zarvan]

Photo source: Associated Press of Pakistan
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PAKISTAN AND ITALY AGREE TO EXPLORE JOINT DEFENCE PRODUCTION
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On 09 July 2018, Pakistan’s state-owned news agency the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported that Pakistan and Italy had agreed to explore opportunities for joint defence production.

“Pakistan and Italy stressed upon the need to explore the areas in the field of joint defence production and regular exchange of high level visits between both the countries,” reports APP.

The call came following a meeting between Pakistan’s Ministry of Defence Production (MoDP) and Italian diplomatic officials and, notably, a delegation led by Leonardo S.p.A.’s CEO, Alessandro Prosumo.

Leonardo S.p.A. is a multi-billion-dollar defence giant headquarted in Rome, Italy with subsidiaries (e.g. Selex ES, AgustaWestland) and equity ownership (e.g. Thales Alenia Space) throughout Europe.

Notes & Comments:

Interestingly, the call had also come following Pakistan’s decision to ink a big-ticket contract for 30 Turkish Aerospace (TA) T129 ATAK attack helicopters. AgustaWestland (now under Leonardo) had sold the A129 Mangusta with turnkey transfer-of-technology (ToT) and rights to market and export the platform.

However, Leonardo has already built a market for its defence goods in Pakistan. In recent years, Leonardo has sold AW139 utility helicopters to the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Seaspray 7300 and Seaspray 5300 active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radars to the Pakistan Navy (PN) and refurbished M109L howitzers to the Pakistan Army (see export-import logs below). Thus, there is noticeable bilateral engagement.



A delegation led by Leonardo’s CEO could signal the company’s intention (with the support of the Italian government) to expand its operations in Pakistan, especially in light of the latter’s forthcoming programs. In fact, in December 2017 Leonardo reportedly said that it was also opening a new office in Pakistan.

Potential programs of interest to Leonardo could include fitting the PN’s forthcoming MILGEM Ada anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvettes – i.e. sensors (e.g. radar, electronic support measures, etc), weapons (e.g. anti-ship missiles and ASW torpedoes) and, possibly, an ASW helicopter. Interestingly, the Leonardo AW159 Wildcat shares the same powerplant – i.e. LHTEC CTS800 – as the T129 ATAK.

One program of earlier interest to Leonardo is the PAF’s JF-17. Granted, the JF-17 Block-III is slated to use the Nanjing Research Institute of Electronics Technology (NRIET) KLJ-7A, but a pitch to retrofit the PAF’s existing JF-17 Block-I and Block-IIs could be interesting. Leonardo recently unveiled a low-cost AESA radar for lightweight fighters with limited internal room. This joins an earlier product release of a similar – i.e. low-cost and readily exportable – concept, the BriteEye Defensive Aids Suite (which Leonardo, albeit in its marketing material, shows to be “optimized” for the JF-17, among other fighters).

https://quwa.org/2018/07/18/pakistan-and-italy-agree-to-explore-joint-defence-production/

 

[gangsta_rap]

ahhhh ITALIA

 

[BRAVO_]

they can start with GRIFO E which is a low cost AESA Radar, could be use to pitch the JF-17 in south american countries

 

[GHALIB]

khwaza asif leading the talk .

 

[FuturePAF]

Pakistan is in a pinch in terms of the economy; any major deals on arms should be used to secure deals/concessions on trade. i.e. Italy setting up a factory to make more leather products (not just raw leather) that go into Italian products. Guns and Butter, not just Guns.

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Italian goods

 

[WarKa DaNG]

Everyone is exploring joint defence coperation but nothing implies

 

[Abrams]

another good improvement for the JF-17 would to buy the Italian EDGE Escort Jamming Pod and buying the Beretta ARX-160 would help improve POF's modernization

 

[Super Falcon]

I dont see italy as a major defence contractor

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Please Big Item only from now on

Pakistan / Italy two great civilizations

Indus River Civilization , and Roman Empire two great histories time to induct few ships now

 

[Ahmet Pasha]

Hopefully ur khan sahab will make efforts to make the economy and defence of the nation alot stronger

Please Big Item only from now on

Pakistan / Italy two great civilizations

Indus River Civilization , and Roman Empire two great histories time to induct few ships now

 

[lastofthepatriots]

I dont see italy as a major defence contractor

Maybe they can provide us some nice leather seats for our APC's.

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

Maybe they can provide us some nice leather seats for our APC's.

Monica belluci.

 

[Arsalan]

I dont see italy as a major defence contractor

SAMs
JF-17 Subsystems
New Tank Sub Systems
Radars
Small arms/G-3 Replacement (Approximately 1.25 Billion 4 Project)
May be even cooperation in Naval systems

There is a lot of potential even in realistic equipment (without bringing in the fantasy EFT, Mistral, FREMM etc )

 

[That Guy]

Italy is one of the few European nations that Pakistan has the chance of building strong economic and military ties with, so I don't know why Pakistan continues to hesitate. With Italian-Indian relations at an all time low, Pakistan should be taking advantage of the situation.