On 28 September, the visit to the F-35 - FACO / MRO & U trivalent regional pole in Cameri was carried out by general Luciano Portolano, general secretary of defense and national director of armaments, and by the Finnish counterpart, mr. Raimo Jyväsjärvi.
In the first phase of the meeting, the two national armaments director they illustrated and shared their respective national positions on extremely topical issues such as the effects deriving from the recent conflict situation in the east of our continent and on the support that Italy and Finland, together with other countries, provide to Ukraine.
During the visit to the factories, General Portolano illustrated the importance of the Piedmontese center, which is one of the two F-35 production lines outside the United States and the only one in Europe. For Italy this is a confirmation of the strategic choice to participate in the program from the very beginning Joint Strike Fighter, also due to the important repercussions from an industrial and employment point of view. The general also highlighted to the Finnish counterpart the significant specific weight of Italy in the international program, which already today counts, in various ways, 16 nations, in support of an active role in European and transatlantic cooperation.
Born as the final assembly line for the Navy and Air Force aircraft, the first copy of which was delivered in 2015, the Polo is owned by the Italian Government and is managed by the Italian company Leonardo, sub-contractor of the international contract. , Lockheed Martin.
Dutch F-35s are already being produced at the Italian plant in Cameri and Switzerland has recently expressed its interest in doing the same.
Brig. gen. Luca De Martinis, director of the IV department "Program Coordination", the gen. ba Bruno Levati, director of the F-35 program for Italy and Rear Admiral Pietro Alighieri, senior adviser of the general secretary.
