F-35, the fighters ordered by Switzerland will be produced in Cameri
Switzerland will have at least 24 of the 36 F-35A fighters produced in Cameri, at the Leonardo Velivoli group plant. All the details
Double the work for the Faco (Final Assembly and Check-Out) of Cameri di Leonardo.
On 24 March the Federal Office of Armament, Armasuisse, announced that at least 24 of Switzerland's 36 F-35A stealth fighters will be produced in Cameri.
In fact, Cameri is home to one of the two F-35 production lines outside the United States and the only one in Europe.
Good news for Leonardo. In fact, the group manages the Faco di Cameri and builds the wings for the F-35.
But the work doesn't stop there. Germany has also decided to purchase F-35s to replace Tornado fighter-bombers by 2030 and “it is likely that it will be able to turn to the Italian plant, a hypothesis that is also evaluated by Belgium, Finland and Poland” reports the Republic . And in Cameri, “in the not-so-distant future, Lightining IIs could be assembled, which could be acquired by Greece”, Rid relaunches .
Just last February , Finland signed a $ 9.4 billion deal for the purchase of US F-35 fighters.
Furthermore, according to Il Fatto daily, "the increase in production and the strengthening of Cameri are foreseen by a confidential political negotiation between the Draghi government and the American one, led by the Minister of Defense, Lorenzo Guerini, and Lockheed is also involved".
However, Bern has not given up hope of assembling the aircraft at the Swiss plants in Ruag.
All the details.
SWITZERLAND HAS ORDERED 36 F-35 A
Last year Switzerland decided that the new fighter jets will be Lockheed Martin 's F-35 A Lightning aircraft.
Over the course of the program, Bern plans to spend up to CHF 6 billion (US $ 6.5 billion) to purchase 36 conventional F-35A take-off and landing models to replace its old Hornet fleet. This was announced by the Swiss government last June.
THE AGREEMENT WITH THE USA
As reported in the press release, armasuisse has reached an agreement with the US government and established that up to 28 of the 36 overall aircraft will be produced in Italy by Leonardo. This means that at least 24 aircraft will be built in Italy.
AND BERN?
However, a review is underway with F-35A builder Lockheed Martin to see if final assembly work will be carried out in Ruag, Switzerland, as part of a compensation project. Otherwise, these too will be produced in Cameri.
Lockheed Martin will build the first 8 aircraft at its manufacturing facility in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, so that they can be used to train Swiss pilots that will be sent to the United States. The contractual arrangements with the US government, and consequently the price and delivery schedule, remain unchanged.
NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN ROME AND WASHINGTON
Returning to the F-35s for Europe in Cameri, "Guerini's plan includes an announcement in Parliament when the agreement with the US will be reached". "The conclusion of the negotiations between Guerini and the Pentagon would be imminent, according to sources in the defense sector," writes Il Fatto .
“In addition, there are discussions to create a single maintenance center in Cameri for all the F-35s present in Europe, including those that will be sent in the coming years from the United States to strengthen NATO defenses. According to defense sources, Washington plans to deploy 500 F-35s over the next few years, mostly in Germany and Italy, ”concludes the newspaper.
THE ROLE OF THE FACO DI CAMERI
The Leonardo-managed facility in Cameri is the only assembly and final checkout site for F-35s in Europe .
"The facility is responsible for assembling the F-35A / B of the Italian Air Force and the Italian Navy, as well as the Dutch aircraft," said Rid .
Italy is a level 2 partner of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program with the commitment to purchase 90 F-35s (reduced in 2012 from the initial 131).
As AresDifesa pointed out, “the Cameri plant is able to carry out technologically advanced machining at an industrial level, representing the main engineering-maintenance and logistic center of the Italian Air Force for high-performance aircraft (fast jets)”.
According to La Stampa , "an industrial chain was created in Cameri for the implementation of the F-35 program, which in 2019 produced 63 million euros in exports for Italian companies, an increase compared to 20 in 2018". The site employs around 110 people.
"A further expansion of the Faco has already obtained the green light" , the Turin newspaper always reported last December. «The works have started – underlines the commander Mastroberti of the Cameri airport – to set up the first 12 intervention bays of the F35. When fully operational, there will be 16. It means that the Cameri site is a candidate to be the only European maintenance center ”.
As Repubblica concludes, “The ambition is to become the only hub for the major maintenance of aircraft in service in Europe”.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/f-35-cameri-caccia-svizzera/ on Mon, 28 Mar 2022 10:57:20 +0000.