Italian authorities have asked parliament to approve the allocation of an additional 7.28 billion euros to the F-35 program.
As a result, the total cost of the program increases from 13.5 billion euros (2009 estimate) to 20.8 billion euros, while the planned number of aircraft is reduced from 131 to 115 units.
The Ministry of Defense explains this by the increase in the cost of technological upgrades, the tightening of security requirements, inflation and the euro/dollar exchange rate. The funding will start next year and continue until 2039.
There is one caveat: according to available data, parliamentary experts noted that the submitted documents do not say anything about industrial output and export prospects.
This creates an awkward situation for the country where the final F-35 assembly line is located in Camry.
Why is this important?
An additional 7.28 billion euros (an increase of more than 50%) brings the total cost to 20.8 billion euros.
The cost of the program for each planned aircraft increases from approximately 103 million to 181 million euros.
The costs for the F-35 program are also rising for other customer countries.