Italien: Sistema di Combattimento per la Fanteria

[theoderich]

Italy tees up $5 billion-plus program to build 1,000 combat vehicles (25. Januar 2024)

Italy will pick industrial partners to start work on a major new €5 billion (U.S. $5.4 billion) tracked fighting vehicle program within “a few months,” a senior Italian Army official has told Defense News.

Companies will be invited to launch feasibility studies for the program, which is expected to lead to a 1,000-vehicle purchase as Italy hurries to replace its aging Dardo vehicles, and as the war in Ukraine has put land combat back on the map.

Furthermore, with Italy determined to involve European firms, the program could prove a catalyst for industrial integration in the sector, as soon as Rome can decide who to pick from potential partners like Italy’s Leonardo and Iveco, French-German firm KNDS, and Germany’s Rheinmetall.

“From a programmatic point of view, all documents related to the operational requirement have been approved and the Ministry of Defence has allocated an important part of the necessary budget,” said Maj. Gen. Francesco Olla, the head of the Army’s General Planning Financial Division. “Therefore, the procurement activities will begin in the next few months.”

Formerly called the Armored Infantry Combat System and now renamed the Army Armored Combat System, or A2CS, the program foresees a vehicle able to share targets with other platforms; use a wide range of ammunition, including airburst rounds; and tackle threats from improvised explosive devices, anti-tank missiles and swarming drones.

https://www.defensenews.com/global/euro ... -vehicles/