The Italian air force is due to acquire six of the drones, which are derived from Baykar’s TB-3 and are being assembled in Italy by LBA Systems, a joint venture between Baykar and Leonardo.

The Astore Levante is due to carry Leonardo sensors, but at its unveiling at the Farnborough air show in July it was presented alongside Turkish armaments, including Roketsan’s MAM family of guided bombs and Baykar’s KEMANKES-1 mini cruise missile.

Speaking in Rome on Monday, Italian air force chief Gen. Antonio Conserva said he was not ruling out other suppliers of armaments. “At the moment we have not made choices, the natural armament is Turkish but we also have activities with MBDA and small Italian industrial groups,” he said.

Conserva confirmed the new drone was set to be certified by the end of 2026 or in early 2027. European certification is deemed a prerequisite for selling the drone in Europe.

Mounting European arms will also boost sales efforts in Europe. The Italian air force will initially order three systems, each containing two drones, but Conserva said, “We will see if we go on to expand the capability.”

The Astore Levant will replace the Predator MQ1 flown by the air force, Conserva added. As well as being flown on ISR missions and providing armed support for troops, the drones will also be used for training drone pilots, he said.

Before the launch in July of the Astore Levante, the Italian navy said in April it was eyeing the TB-3 as a carrier-borne drone to fly off its Cavour carrier, which also hosts Italy’s F-35Bs.

The TB-3 is already in service on board the Turkish amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu. Another TB-3 customer, Indonesia, is expected to base the drone on the Garibaldi, a carrier it has purchased from Italy.

Conserva spoke to reporters on Monday at a conference at the HQ of the Italian air force in Rome which gathered air force and industry officials to discuss the future of warfare.

Asked by Defense News about the prospect of Germany possibly joining the GCAP sixth generation fighter program set up by Italy, Japan and the UK, Conserva said he was in favor.

“We are talking about a strategic partner,” he said.

“We would need to find a political and industrial deal. Germany is a great country. We have already collaborated with them on the Tornado which will retire next year, and the Eurofighter which is the backbone of our national defense and deterrence. Whatever emerges I will view favorably,” he added.

The plans to limit spending emerged this week as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni continues to be squeezed between NATO spending targets and voter opposition to spending tax payers’ cash on arms not hospitals.

The possible €8 billion shortfall is tied up with Italy’s hot-and-cold approach to a European Union scheme to allow states to exempt a quantity of defense spending from their calculations of annual deficit spending over a number of years.

The so-called National Escape Clause would allow EU states to rearm while not breaking EU deficit rules.

After Meloni’s government promoted the scheme, it then appeared less enthusiastic when the EU finally approved it before Meloni announced this year she would use the extra cash not only for defense but also to cover Italy’s soaring fuel costs.

That was due to generate a defense windfall of between €21 billion and €22 billion thanks to NEC. But the calculation changed on Thursday at a Cabinet meeting when deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini succeeded in pushing the amount down to around €14 billion, a drop of up to €8 billion.

“It’s yet to be made definite but the reduction was agreed,” a government source told Defense News.

Salvini leads the League party which is part of Meloni’s governing coalition and is battling defense spending hikes, opposing sending military support to Ukraine and wants a deal with Moscow to end the conflict in the country.

That contrasts with Meloni’s firm backing for Kyiv and support for Europe’s hardline opposition to Moscow, but she is in a minority in Italian politics. To her right, a new challenger Roberto Vannacci is calling for an end to sanctions on Russia, while among Italy’s left-wing opposition parties, the Five Star party has blamed the Ukraine conflict on a “war mongering Europe.”

A poll of Five Star’s members this month found over 90% opposed European rearmament and believed sending arms to Ukraine was to blame for prolonging the war.

Despite a groundswell of opposition to defense spending in Italy, Meloni has meanwhile committed to NATO’s spending target of 5% of GDP, and she has claimed Italy has reached 2.8% this year, including spending on domestic security.

But details are scant: this year’s budget breakdown has yet to be published.

Meanwhile, Rome said in August it would request €8 billion euros in cheap loans from the European Union’s SAFE defense funding program, down from its original intention to ask for €14.9 billion euros in loans.

In a parliamentary hearing on Sept. 23, the CEO of Italian defense giant Leonardo said he was a big fan of SAFE loans, since they guaranteed cash for defense programs with few complications.

“I believe SAFE is the first, real useful measure that Europe has come up with,” said Lorenzo Mariani.

“The money has never been much and it’s been complicated. Now SAFE is moving a lot of money and using a system which we believe is not complex like other European schemes have been,” he added.

“Portugal is buying FREMM frigates built by Leonardo and Fincantieri thanks to SAFE funds,” he said.

Mariani said he had talked up the virtues of SAFE loans to the Meloni government.

“SAFE is very positive. The use of it does not depend on me. I have made proposals which I hope are accepted by the government,” he said.

One analyst said Rome needed to make up its mind about spending.

“The government needs to take important decisions about NEC and SAFE loans which were granted to all member states after years of requests by Italian governments,” said Alessandro Marrone, who heads the Defence Security and Space Programme at Rome think tank IAI.

“The government should have implemented its decision by now to enable better planning by the Italian defense ministry. It’s urgent. This is not just about NATO targets but about filling gaps left in Europe next year by U.S. pull-outs and now following through on Italy’s desire to send naval vessels to defend the Red Sea.”

In a deal brokered by European procurement office OCCAR, Italy signed a €3.7 billion ($4.2 billion) for two so-called DDX destroyers for delivery in 2033 and 2035.

The deal was signed with Orizzonte Sistemi Navali (OSN), an Italian joint venture in which state shipyard Fincantieri holds 51% and state defense giant Leonardo has the remaining 49%. With a displacement of 13,500 tonnes, the 180-meter DDX destroyers will carry a crew of 251 and have a range of 4,000 nautical miles, Fincantieri said in a statement.

The combat system supplied by Leonardo will feature “advanced digitalization”, while the vessel will also include a “DC power sub-network with its associated energy storage system, an innovative stabilization system integrated with the steering system, new algorithms and methodologies for calculating thermal and electrical balances, and further digital developments of the Ship Management System,” the firms said.

The vessels will feature Leonardo’s SADOC 5 command-and-control system, digital S-band AESA radar and MBDA weapon systems, the firms added.

After ordering FREMM-class frigates, PPA multimission ships, a new landing helicopter dock, new submarines and logistics vessels, the DDX order marks the continuation of a fleet renewal splurge for the Italian navy.

The destroyers will sail alongside but ultimately replace the Italian navy’s two Horizon vessels, a navy spokesman told Defense News.

In an unusual race planned next month at the Navy’s air base at Grottaglie in southern Italy, one of its F-35Bs will go head-to-head with a Ferrari SF90 to see which has the punchier acceleration.

“We are used to getting a result, but this will be tough,” said Fabio Barone, who will be behind the wheel of the SF90 after claiming seven speed records in a Ferrari.

A Navy spokesman confirmed the race would go ahead.

The first race on Oct. 11 will be over 500 meters on an aluminum runway used by the F-35Bs at Grottaglie for landing. At the end of the course the F-35B will take off.

Barone said the car will normally accelerate from zero to 100 km/h in 2.8 seconds, but with special engine tuning it will do it in 2.6 seconds.

That will allow the car to reach 330 km/h over the 500 meters and complete the course in 8-9 seconds.

“With that acceleration, I will face 2.2g, meaning 140kg of pressure,” he said.

“The F35B will make a slower start but has more power,” he added.

A second race, on asphalt and aluminium, will be run over 2.8 km. After 500 meters the F-35B will take over and complete the race in flight at

an altitude of about 20 metres.

Barone, 54, said the car and the aircraft will race together on one 35 meter wide runway, meaning there will be just 15 meters between them.

“We will be very close,” he said. “The challenge will be driving over the aluminium plates, which will create vibration,” he added.

Asked why exactly he was keen to race against a jet fighter, Barone said, “Everyone can race against another car, and this is a chance to put on a show. Additionally, Michael Schumacher did it,” he said.

In 2003, the former Formula One driver drove a Ferrari Formula One car in races with an Italian Air Force Eurofighter at Italy’s Grosseto air base – an event which drew a crowd of 50,000.

The Eurofighter won 900- and 1,200–meter races without taking off. Schumacher however won a 600-meter race, accelerating from the starting line to reach 294 km/h and complete the course in 9.6 seconds, beating the Eurofighter by two-tenths of a second.

Barone previously worked with the Italian Navy when he drove a Ferrari last year along the flight deck of the Navy’s new Trieste carrier vessel, reaching 164 km/h over about 200 meters before slamming on the brakes to avoid flying off the end of the ship.

The Squall missile will carry a 50-60 kg warhead and fly over 300 km at low altitude after being launched from naval or land platforms including ramps, containers or tactical vehicles.

Weighing in at 150 kg and measuring 3.4 meters in length, it will reach 0.8 Mach, an Indra official told Defense News.

“What we have seen in recent conflicts is armed forces using very expensive weapons to take out low cost targets,” said Juan Mahon, Business Development Director for Indra’s Weapons and Ammunition Division.

“If you want to saturate the defenses of an enemy you cannot use too many missiles if they each cost 2-3 million euros,” he said.

“And you may not need the capability that missile offers. What you do need however is to launch 10-20 missiles to saturate the target, followed by one more-costly missile,” he said.

Mahon said Indra was hoping to price the Squall to allow operators to purchase ten for the price of one top-price missile.

Typical targets would include command-and-control centers, air defense systems and high-value military infrastructure, Indra said in a statement.

The firm added the missile will be equipped with “different guidance and navigation systems designed to withstand attempts at jamming or spoofing and reach the intended target.”

The missile will also be supported by an all-Spanish supply chain, “based on components over which sovereignty and control are maintained, to ensure the ability to scale production in times of crisis, when international supply chains may be disrupted and access to certain materials may become more difficult,” the statement said.

Mahon added, “It’s ITAR-free.”

The late decision marks a step back from original plans to tap the scheme for €14.9 billion euros in loans for defense procurement.

Italy’s right-wing government led by Giorgia Meloni has hesitated over the low-cost loans, which are being offered by the EU to help member states beef up military readiness in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and President Trump’s demands that NATO members spend more on defense.

Meloni herself suggested Italy would not take out the loans as the League party – a member of her ruling coalition – said public spending should be prioritized over defense spending.

That view is shared by opposition parties as well as a sizable number of Italian voters ahead of national elections next year.

The decision to apply for €8 billion in loans was confirmed to Defense News on Wednesday by a source knowledgeable of talks with the EU.

When Italy first considered applying for loans from the bloc’s €150 billion SAFE warchest it planned to spend cash on programs including new Lynx armored fighting vehicles and Panther tanks that local defense firm Leonardo is building for the Italian army with Germany’s Rheinmetall.

The deal envisages the delivery of 1,050 Lynx vehicles and 272 Panther tanks as part of a €23 billion euro deal.

In July, Italian defense minister Guido Crosetto said Italy would however cut 18% in costs from the program, suggesting possible delays and order number reductions.

Speaking at last month’s NATO summit in Turkey, Meloni said, “Today, what we are seeing in Ukraine is that a tank worth millions can be destroyed by a drone worth 20,000 euros, and that a person trained to fly drones remotely can be more lethal than a sniper. A reflection is therefore needed on how we invest.”

Last year, Italy said it pushed defense spending from 1.54% of GDP to around %, albeit by reconfiguring existing expenditures as defense spending.

Speaking at the NATO summit, Meloni said spending rose to 2.8% in 2026, although the rise is mainly accounted for by spending on domestic security rather than defense programs.

The potential deal was made possible by the U.S. Department of State’s approval of a Foreign Military Sale to Italy of 5,031 BAE Systems Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) II guidance systems.

The APKWS, which can be inserted between the warhead of an unguided missile and its motor, features four fold-out wings which each carry a laser seeker, turning a missile that costs less than €100,000 ($117,000) into a guided weapon.

The solution would allow the Italian Air Force to avoid firing missiles like the AMRAAM – which costs ten times that – to destroy cheaply produced drones.

“The proposed sale will improve Italy’s capability to meet current and future threats by strengthening its homeland defense and serving as a deterrent to regional threats,” the State Department said.

The FMS approval also covers launchers, warheads and rocket motors, as well as technical support, taking the potential deal to $364 million, the State Department added.

Sources in Italy told Defense News no contract had been signed and the technology was still being evaluated. The likely recipient of the APKWS would be Italy’s Eurofighter jet, which is already guarding Europe’s borders against drone incursions.

This month, an Italian Eurofighter taking part in NATO air policing mission in the Baltics shot down an unidentified drone which flew into Latvian airspace.

In May, the Royal Air Force announced it was already using the system on its Eurofighters after a rapid acquisition which saw testing and deployment completed in two months.

“The Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) gives RAF pilots a highly accurate option to destroy aerial targets and allows them to engage drones at a fraction of the cost of traditional air-to-air missiles,” the RAF said at the time.

Police who filmed and wiretapped an alleged Russian military intelligence officer quizzing an accused informant in Italy heard him demanding information on systems like Europe’s Samp-T, which has been given to Kyiv, and the Michelangelo Dome, an air defense system developed by Italy’s Leonardo due to be tested in Ukraine in November.

The Russian accused of being an officer with Russia’s military intelligence agency GRU was followed as he met with Gavino Piras, 59, a former member of Italy’s secret service, who was arrested this week along with a second former Italian intelligence official.

Piras is accused of using cash supplied by the Russian official, Mikhail Astakov, to recruit informants in the Italian military who fed him secret information Astakov asked for. Five alleged informants are under investigation.

Court documents seen by Defense News allege that Astakov — who was a military attaché at the Russian embassy in Rome — gave Piras lists of information requests from his superiors at secret meetings and was given microSD cards packed with information which were left in a hole in a wall for collection.

The Russian paid out €4,000 ($4,600) in cash for each package of information, the investigators said.

“All that I can give you, I will give you, tell your boss that,” Piras told Astakov.

The requests show a determination to find out exactly how Europe was helping Ukraine defend itself from Russian missile and drone attacks.

Following a demand for information about the European Samp-T air defense system supplied by Italy and France to Ukraine, Piras refers to data about the battery he has passed over, and he also fields requests about the MBDA CAMM-ER air defense missile, which Ukraine is in talks to assemble.

Astakov also asks about Leonardo’s planned Michelangelo Dome, an air-defense system designed with open architecture to allow partner countries to link existing assets and make them interoperable.

Leonardo management has said the system will be trialed in Ukraine in November.

One note delivered in September 2025 requested information on a variety of topics including “Efficiency of attacks on Iranian nuclear structures, damage to the program, prospects of work restarting,” as well as Italy’s plans to purchase Storm Shadow missiles, rearmament plans for Italy, EU and NATO, “Priorities and objectives of EU defense” and “Help for Ukraine to build long distance missiles.”

The Russian was also curious about a Leonardo sub-sea drone he says the firm is testing in La Spezia in Italy.

In the transcripts reported in the court documents, Piras tells the Russian that British, not Italian, intelligence is assisting Ukraine in its long range strikes against Russia oil facilities.

Piras also claims that Italian experts are studying the workings of the Russian T90 tank. “They don’t understand how the machine gun mounted on it works autonomously. If they manage to steal the secret they will, so be careful,” he tells Astakov.

In April 2025, Astakov requested information on Avio, the Italian propulsion firm, months after it partnered with the US Army to supply missile solid rocket motors.

After Piras was arrested on Tuesday, his lawyer denied he had passed any classified information to Russia.

On Thursday, the Italian government announced it was expelling two Russian military attaches working at the Russian embassy, including Astakov.

“Moscow continues to use hybrid warfare to attack the West and Italy,” said Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani. “This is serious and unacceptable interference in Italian institutions and national security,” he added.

Thales will offer to buy the remaining Exail shares for €134 each, the company said on Monday. That’s a 44% premium to the Exail share price on June 25, the day before Safran announced talks with the Gorgé family at a price of €128.50 a share.

Safran said it ended exclusive negotiations on Friday about the potential acquisition after the parties were unable to reach mutually acceptable terms.

Exail provides maritime drones for several European autonomous mine-hunting systems, including the French program led by Thales. The market for mine warfare is expected to grow in the high single digits through to 2030, while the addressable market for unmanned anti-submarine warfare is forecast to increase eightfold by the end of the decade, Thales said in a presentation.

“With this acquisition, Thales aims to increase its scale in the underwater warfare market, and to expand its capabilities in inertial navigation systems through the addition of Exail’s complementary expertise,” the company said.

Thales said the acquisition allows it to gain critical mass in the growing market for unmanned mine countermeasures and speed up innovation in anti-submarine warfare. Exail produces a range of underwater and surface drones, as well as inertial navigation technology, with 76% of its sales coming from navigation and maritime robotics, and the remainder from advanced technologies.

Exail’s autonomous maritime drones are used for underwater mine clearing and seabed mapping, with emerging uses including anti-submarine warfare as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. Thales is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of sonar systems, including towed sonar used by many Western navies.

The purchase by Thales of the Gorgé family stake is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, after which the company will file a mandatory tender offer for all of Exail’s shares and convertible bonds that is expected to close by early 2028 at the latest.

Thales said it expects “significant value creation” for its shareholders from the acquisition, with Exail adding to the company’s earnings per share from the first year, and an impact on Thales operating profit of more than €90 million by 2032.

Exail had 2025 revenue of €479 million, and an order book of €1.1 billion at the end of March, according to the presentation document. That compares with Thales sales of €22.1 billion last year, and an order book of €53.3 billion at the end of December.

Thales said the purchase will strengthen its underwater warfare business, allow it to gain market share in inertial navigation systems, and help accelerate development of quantum sensors. Combining the two companies could generate additional revenue of €500 million within 10 years, Thales said.

Fincantieri acquisitions

Meanwhile, Italian shipyard Fincantieri is spending €600 million to acquire four maritime drone and undersea engineering firms as it seeks to strengthen its role in the growing civil and defense undersea market.

The Italian state-controlled yard said it was buying firm Next Geosolutions, which offers offshore construction support services, as well as Italian start-ups WSense, Graal Tech and Defcomm which specialize in underwater communications and surface and undersea drones.

“The acquisitions announced today mark a historic transformation for Fincantieri, as it creates an international champion in the underwater domain,” the group’s CEO, Pierroberto Folgiero, said in a statement.

Supported by a €500 million capital increase in February, the acquisitions add to Fincantieri’s recent purchases of undersea firm Remazel and torpedo maker WASS.

Following the new acquisitions, Fincantieri’s sub-sea revenue will hit €1.1 billion this year, €1.4 billion in 2028 and €1.8 billion in 2030, the firm said.

Fincantieri said it would seek synergies between civilian and military sub-sea technologies, in the same way it has long sought synergies between its naval vessel and cruise ship businesses.

Following the acquisitions, Fincantieri will employ 1,500 in sub-sea activities in Italy, the Netherlands, the U.K., Norway and the United Arab Emirates, the firm said.

The three nations said on Friday they had handed the 18-month contract to Edgewing, the industrial consortium grouping firms building the sixth-generation fighter.

The announcement came three days after the announcement of the U.K.’s delayed Defence Investment Plan (DIP), which contained funds for the fighter.

“The £4.6 billion contract will enable completion of the advanced concept and assessment phase of the program, and further joint detailed design and development,” the tri-nation agency running the program announced.

As the partners awaited the publication of the DIP this spring, they handed firms a £686 million stop-gap contract to keep work going until June 30.

To the relief of the partner firms, the DIP – which was released on the same day the stop gap contract expired – committed £8.6 billion ($11.4 billion) over four years to the program, more than the £6 billion expected.

The U.K.’s delay in finding the GCAP money sparked criticism from Japan, which is anxious to get a sixth-generation jet flying by the planned GCAP delivery date of 2035.

Japan’s prime minister reportedly threatened to pull out of a planned visit to the U.K. before the G7 in June if the U.K. failed to promise funding.

The signing of the contract comes days ahead of the opening of the U.K. Farnborough airshow this month.

U.K. defense procurement minister Luke Pollard called the contract “a major step forward towards delivery” of the GCAP.

He added, “This milestone strengthens our partnership with international allies, supports thousands of highly skilled jobs across the UK, and will give the RAF the tools they need to keep the UK safe, all backed by an £8.6 billion commitment in the defense investment plan.”

Edgewing, the industrial consortium running the program teams local champions BAE Systems, Leonardo, and Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co. Ltd. (JAIEC).

Edgewing is now expected to hand its own contracts to tri-nation consortia managing the electronics and propulsion on the jet.