The U.S. and Italy plan to expand their defense cooperation at a governmental and industrial level, but representatives from all parties leave little doubt that large hurdles need to be overcome before the relationship can be considered healthy. Two new agreements that will tie the Pentagon and Italian defense establishment closer together are in the areas of missile defense and maritime surveillance. By year-end, the U.S. Navy and Italian government hope to ink a cooperation accord on the U.S. Multimission Maritime Aircraft (MMA)-the P-3 replacement-and the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance unmanned aircraft system, says Rino Pivirotto, acting director for the Navy's international program office.
展开▼
