The Directorate of Terrestrial Armaments has published a specification of expenditure - which is part of the 2018-2020 Performance Plan decided by the Minister of Defense Pinotti on 31 January 2018 - for the adaptation / reconstruction of stocks of parts, equipment, components and sub-assemblies for vehicles fighting for infantry VCC-80 DARDO.
According to the aforementioned administrative act, this requirement is justified by the continuous evolution of the international situation, which in recent times has seen the areas of crisis multiply, has made the need to adopt all the temperaments of the case ever more urgent, in order to be ready, also taking into account the current financial framework of reference and of the increasingly reduced availability in stock, to provide immediate answers in terms of preparation and support, even in the medium to long term, of components of the terrestrial instrument of presumable use in unplanned operations outside the national territory, which require an extremely contracted notice to move. In this context and for the conditions of necessity and urgency, the EMS represented the need to reconstruct / adapt the stocks of spare parts, equipment, components and subassemblies for the VCC "DARDO", as well as to solve the related problems of obsolescence involving the components "parking brake pads kit" and "service discs, pliers and brake pads", in order to guarantee their efficiency and the relative operational availability.
The total expenditure, distributed over the three-year period 2018-2020, is equal to 2.400.000,00 euros, of which the portion allocated to the resolution of obsolescences charged to the braked system is 50.000,00 euros for the 2018; euro 250.000,00 for the 2019; euro 400.000,00 for the 2020, for a total of euro 700.000,00.
On December 20 we asked for clarification from the Defense regarding these expenses, at the moment we have not yet received a reply.
So we continue to invest the already scarce resources on resources without real operational capabilities. The needs of the Military Staff of the Army are certainly legitimate, except that the DARTO is a means that can not be projected quickly, as can be seen in the technical-operational profile that is now expressed. In fact, the DART has a combat weight of 24 tons, while the aircars with the highest capacity available, the C-130J-30 SUPER HERCULES, have a maximum load of less than 20 tons.
In addition, the vehicle is protected by an aluminum armor, not able - even with the use of additional armor - to deal with modern operating theaters, characterized by a high density of counter-truck systems, even of the latest generation.
For these reasons it seems totally counterproductive to continue to invest money to buy spare parts for a vehicle that can never be used in operations outside the national territory, unless you want to send our soldiers to fight in metal coffins. .
(photo: Defense)
