Italy Asks Parliament for €7.3 Billion More for the F-35, Pushing Total Cost to €20.8 Billion

Italy's F-35 program is about to get a lot more expensive. The Defence Ministry has sent Parliament a decree asking for an additional €7.3 billion, which would lift the program's authorised cost from €13.5 billion to roughly €20.8 billion, according to Il Sole 24 Ore and Milano Finanza.

The money covers 115 aircraft and the Cameri facility in northern Italy, where the country assembles, tests and maintains F-35s. Parliament's defence committees must give their opinion by December 13.

Fewer jets, higher bill

The fleet breaks down into 75 F-35As for the Air Force and 40 short-takeoff F-35Bs, split equally between the Air Force and the Navy. That is 16 fewer aircraft than Italy's original requirement of 131, which means the cost per jet in the national program has climbed sharply.

Parliament's research offices point to several reasons: revised safety requirements, higher costs for upgrading the aircraft's technology, inflation and swings in the euro-dollar exchange rate. Milano Finanza adds the integration of new weapons and systems, longer support contracts and new infrastructure at Cameri.

An Italian Air Force F-35A flies alongside a US B-52H over Italy. File photo: U.S. Air Force (public domain).

Where the money goes, and when

The development schedule runs from 2027 to 2039. The decree allocates €175 million in 2027 and €230 million in 2028, but most of the extra spending lands between 2029 and 2034, peaking at more than €1 billion a year in the early 2030s according to indicative figures reported by Milano Finanza.

Cameri is central to the plan. It is Europe's only F-35 final assembly and check-out line outside the United States, building Italy's jets and some for the Netherlands, and serving as a regional maintenance hub. The new funding keeps that national line in the program.

Questions for Parliament

The numbers do not line up neatly with earlier plans. Milano Finanza notes that the Defence Ministry's 2025-2027 multi-year planning document listed €12.33 billion for the F-35 through 2046, and that the decree does not update the industrial return Italy expects from Cameri.

Parliament's opinion is not binding, but it is the main public check on a program that has drawn political fire in Italy for more than a decade. With the Navy's carrier Cavour now operating F-35Bs and the Air Force flying F-35As from Amendola and Ghedi, Rome has little room to walk away. The debate is about how much more it is willing to pay.