Admiral Luigi Binelli Mantelli, chief of staff of the defense, intervened yesterday in an audition at the IV commission defense of the chamber. The gravity of the situation seems obvious to me, we have gone beyond the old cuts to waste or increases the efficiency of the Defense system, if you continue with political choices inattentive the machine will begin to lose the pieces and can no longer perform their duties.
A great teacher who taught commercial law when I was attending university - referring to the tremendous experiences of millions of Italians experimented on the stock market a few years ago - he loved to say "a cow you can milk long, but the skin you do it only once!".
Well I think today the admiral Binelli Mantelli has warned that the cow, the defense budget for too long "milked" by the policy to cut "some" expenses (in a barn in which almost nobody complains ...), both arrived at the limit.
Since the words addressed to an organ of the parliament too often remain within the four walls in which they are pronounced, I leave to each reader its interpretation by publishing the full text of the intervention of the head of SMD.
Happy reading and live Italy!
Andrea Cucco
Hearing of the HEAD OF STATE INCREASED BY THE DEFENSE AT THE 4TH COMMISSION DEFENSE OF THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES UNDER THE EXAMINATION OF THE MULTIANNUAL A / R PROGRAM SMD 01 / 2014 RELATED TO THE NAVAL PROGRAM FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE MARITIME CAPACITY OF THE DEFENSE - ACT N. 116 ".
- 25 NOVEMBER 2014 -
I thank the President of the 4 ^ Defense Commission of the Chamber, Honorable VITO, the Vice Presidents - Honorable VILLECCO CALIPARI and ARTINI - and all the members of the Commission for today's call within the framework of the examination of the long-term investment program for the protection of maritime defense capacity, under the terms established in the Stability Law for the year 2014.
I have deliberately used the term "investment" and not the classic "modernization and renewal" to underline how the financial resources allocated by the Government and the Parliament to Defense constitute to a large extent a real investment of the Nation, first of all in its safety, but also towards the national industrial and technological sector, in direct and indirect terms, including export and industrial cooperation opportunities and finally, in the specific case of maritime capacity, towards the direct protection of national interests on the sea and overseas.
I will not go into the technical details of the company being audited today, nor will I mention the importance of the naval program for the Navy and the occupational and economic level - themes broadly illustrated in previous hearings.
I will limit myself to the aspects of specific competence of the Chief of Defense Staff on the basis of the legislation in force and, in particular, for the attributions relating to the "planning, preparation and use of the Armed Forces as a whole, in line with the directives of the Political authority ".
In the introduction, I would like to express my gratitude to the Defense Commissions for the attention and sensitivity shown in the thorough examination of the program in question. Attention and sensitivity that I hope will be a harbinger in the near future of further similar legislative measures for other companies of interest of the Defense, through the indispensable synergy with the Ministry of Economic Development. In fact, this path, as I will explain later, is the only concrete possibility of ensuring investment programs of considerable financial magnitude and broad time horizon, consistent with the overall planning of the Military Instrument as a whole.
The planning and preparation of the Military Instrument is a delicate and complex process, but of fundamental importance since it must allow the activities and tasks that the Armed Forces will be called to carry out effectively and with a medium-long term time horizon. consistent with the Constitutional dictate and current legislation. This process must necessarily be harmonized with the commitments made in the framework of the Alliances in which Italy participates (UN, NATO, EU) and on the basis of what was decided by Parliament and ordered by the Government.
The further indications that will come from the drafting "White Paper" - a government initiative and parliamentary approval - will then allow the related implementation of the decisions resulting from the reference scenario, level of responsibility and priority national interests, expected from the already cited responsibilities that the former "Law on Summits" n. 25 / 97 - now incorporated in the Military Ordinance Code - assigns to the Chief of Defense Staff.
It is evident that the international commitments made, in the face of crises and tensions in vast areas of the world and the unimaginable consequences for national interests - regardless of geographical "distances", a concept that in a globalized world makes no sense - impose to the defense of not being caught unprepared when the Government and Parliament had to decide the use of the Military Instrument.
Just the timeliness and flexibility of the reaction - the most precious qualities of any military instrument - require a state of efficiency of the means and a scrupulous, all-encompassing and "targeted" training of the staff that guarantees the fulfillment of the task and at the same time safeguards the best the safety of our men and women "with the stars".
Timeliness and flexibility are also dual qualities that characterize the reactivity and efficiency that the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Carabinieri Weapon have always shown in the face of national emergencies, dangerous situations or calamitous events. I am referring to the relief to populations flagellated by natural disasters, but also to the numerous requests for intervention for contingent situations, such as the dramatic floods of recent times, emergency medical transport by air, the competitions that the Armed Forces provide, from disengaging of war devices at meteorological service, from underwater archeology to hyperbaric chambers, just to mention some examples.
And yet, the sea rescue of thousands of men, women and children fleeing war and desperation and who are exploited by unscrupulous people who must be brought to justice. The "numbers" of the "Mare Nostrum" Operation are worth more than many words.
All this without forgetting the institutional role of surveillance and defense of the territory, the maritime areas and the national airspace, a role that tends to underestimate in the face of serious and pressing international crises, but that the Armed Forces continue and must perform with seriousness, professionalism.
The operability, that is the ability to do all of this, is therefore the raison d'être of the Military Instrument. It is not improvised and is not acquired once and for all, but it must be nurtured with training, the availability of adequate, well maintained, fully reliable systems and tools able to operate effectively integrated into Allied, NATO and European devices. .
Generally speaking, there are areas of instability interconnected with each other, where phenomena of a local nature reverberate even in areas distant from their origin, increasing the threats to our political, economic, social and financial systems, with a specific mention to the lines of land, sea and air communications, which must be absolutely protected to guarantee freedom of movement and the free exchange of goods. I am referring to the crisis areas in the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Guinea and to the crises closest to our borders - Eastern Europe and Caucasus - characterized by a threat as hybrid - ie including insurgents and regular military forces - as well as real or potential tensions in other areas of the world, up to the Far East.
Balancing and integration of capacity, operational flexibility, technological superiority, decision-making and doctrinal are therefore the only possible answers to the unpredictability and complexity of the scenarios of today and tomorrow.
In this framework of commitments and challenges, the Defense must conscientiously plan and program tomorrow's Armed Forces, in a geo-strategic scenario and in an economic-financial context in which the only certainty is uncertainty.
On the economic and financial level, the situation, especially in Europe, is well known and the Defense has already repeatedly contributed to the reorganization of Public Finance substantially over the last decade.
On the eve of the next parliamentary debate on the main financial measures, the Stability and Budget laws for the next three years, the situation is even more worrying.
The drastic reduction of the ordinary balance sheet over the last few years, especially in the Operating and Investment components, is evident and for some time now the planning of the Military Instrument has dealt with the problem of financing the modernization and renewal needs in a balanced way. weapon systems, vehicles and materials.
In order to absorb the cuts in the ordinary financial statements, also performed during the year through the so-called "provisions", the Defense had to constantly reformulate the programs already operating - within the limits of what can be contractually implemented - or postpone or cancel the start of new companies.
An exercise that, as far as possible, sought to safeguard the maintenance of at least essential operational capabilities, functional to the performance of priority tasks, but that the feared further reductions from the 2015 could actually compromise.
For years, Defense has benefited from the Ministry of Economic Development in the Investment sector, the result of a profitable synergy focused on those needs of the Defense that meet the interest of Mi.SE by type and technological content and for the specific production sector involved.
But not all the acquisitive needs of the Defense can by their nature be satisfied with funds from the Mi.SE (whose availability is obviously not unlimited and necessarily also addressed to other sectors of production) but need funds on the ordinary budget of the Dicastery for the quota Investment.
Just as it is superfluous to emphasize that the construction of a weapon system, means and high-tech materials requires that once in service, once the initial integrated logistic support phase has been completed, they can be financially supported in terms of maintenance and maintenance.
A criticality that clashes with the dramatic situation of the exercise, ie funds for training and training of personnel but also for the purchase of fuels and pieces of respect, for maintenance, repairs, to pay the bills of water, light and tax assessments, just to make the concept more concrete.
The question, therefore, must be seen in its entirety, with balance and great programmatic foresight, without watertight compartments.
Specifically for the Investment, the Multi-Year Program Document for the three-year period 2014-2016 presented by the Minister PINOTTI in Parliament fully and in-depth exposes the aspects related to the Mi.SE funds and to the individual laws that finance through direct allocations or authorizations multiannual commitment limits.
Businesses of Defense interest that, I repeat, must meet the institutional interests of the Mi.SE, whose mission is precisely the economic development of the country, a crucial aspect in the current dramatic economic-employment situation.
The effective collaboration at all levels between the Defense and the MI.SE allowed to carry out projects that would have been impossible to finance with Defense funds, in light of the extremely high financial magnitude and the extremely wide temporal horizon outside the planning capacity of the Defense (above all, as mentioned, due to the lack of certainty of the funds available in an appropriate timeframe).
I refer to legislative provisions under the four main legislative provisions1 that run out of effects in a range from the 2021 (266 / 97 law) to the 2034 (147 / 13 law). Moreover, with a consistency of financial resources under current legislation and a partial "technical" flexibility that the Defense has and can never have.
It is therefore a healthy complementary essential to ensure the already mentioned technological and operational superiority: on the one hand the Mi.SE programs of Modernization and Renewal of major importance and on the other - and I repeat - the equally fundamental contribution of programs for the Investment financed on the ordinary defense budget for the acquisitive needs that do not meet the stringent criteria of the Mi.SE, in particular for those capacities that are not realizable or not yet achievable at national and European level, or whose realization would require unsustainable non-recurring costs .
In this light, the decisions of the Defense are necessarily balanced and weighted in light of the priority operational needs of the Military Instrument.
Just to give some examples of programs developed in synergy with the Mi.SE I would like to mention the Medium Armored Vehicles VBM 8x8 "Freccia", the Multi-Mission European Frigates (FREMM), the EUROFIGHTER and TORNADO aircraft, the NH-90 and EH101 helicopters / CSAR.
And again the digitized NEC Terrestrial Force, the SICRAL 2 satellite, the M-346 training aircraft, the Territorial Control System (SICOTE) of the Carabinieri and, lastly, the "naval program for the protection of the maritime defense capacity" .
A list that gives a sense of the importance of synergy with the MiSE in terms of total or partial contribution to the company.
These are companies of specific interest to a single Armed Force or of common interest to two or to all the components of the Military Instrument depending on the area of operational use.
The problem is not therefore the balancing of the investment, since the programming is unique, integrated and carried out by the Defense Department, but the concrete availability of coherent, adequate and certain funds on the Investment portion, regardless of the methods of disbursement or from aspects of a juridical nature, but always keeping in mind the conceptual differences indicated above between Defense funds and MiSE funds and the sustainability with the Exercise of weapons systems, vehicles and materials in service.
I therefore hope that the Defense Commission and all the parliamentary bodies involved will continue to support the needs of the Armed Forces, including through "dedicated" laws, ie broader measures that support all the requirements of the Military Instrument and that complement the insufficient allocations of the ordinary budget.
A method of approval of the Defense programs which, moreover, involves and gives greater responsibility to Parliament and the competent parliamentary commissions on a matter of general interest of the country, integrating and expanding the forms of control already envisaged by the Military Ordinance Code - Legislative Decree 66 / 2010 (referred to in the Report by the Honorable SCANU) and taken from the former Law "Giacchè".
Going to conclude I can not ignore the concern for the progressive contraction of the resources of Modernization and Renewal of the Defense, against the substantial incompressibility of the Expenditure expenses already in itself largely insufficient.
With regard to the financial year, in the same period and in the face of an already extremely poor situation, further reductions could be unsustainable.
The concrete risk is a progressive and, in some respects, potentially irreversible decrease in the efficiency of the Armed Forces, up to the risk of a paralysis of some capacity complexes. A different scenario from the past, when it was possible to cope with the still substantial reductive financial maneuvers postponing those commitments still in the final consolidation phase.
On the contrary, the new compressive action now finds the institution without any residual "elastic" absorption capacity, with the prospect of a significant reduction in the maintenance of weapon systems, means and materials, but also of training and operational activities. and therefore of all the capacitive assets.
Obviously, if the gloomy forecasts are to come true, we will have to move from "balance sheet" transactions to an in-depth evaluation of the actual contractual and capacitive consequences deriving from the implementation of the consequent measures.
Having said this - and I consider it a duty for what are my primary responsibilities -, taking up the theme of today's convocation in the Commission, I confirm the correctness and transparency of the planning and programming process of the Military Instrument in a genuinely inter-force perspective and in the light of the current strategic context of reference.
I hope that the attention of the Parliament towards the naval component is prodromal to similar initiatives that will be advanced recalling the considerations and evaluations expressed on the current methods of financing of companies of interest of the Defense by the Mi.SE.
I reiterate the critical nature of the ordinary defense budget for the Investment and Exercise quotas, which risks compromising the ever greater integration of the Italian Armed Forces in a European and Atlantic perspective both their own operations.
A goal, hoped for and supported, also in light of the current appointment of Minister MOGHERINI as High Representative of the EU's Foreign Security and Defense Policy, which can not disregard the full interoperability and integration of the various components of the Military Instrument in an interactive perspective, interministerial and international.
With this I conclude my intervention and remain available for further information.
