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Focus on a “Una Squadra Vincente (A Winning Team)’: The US-Italian Defense-Industrial Partnership”, an issue brief presented at an Atlantic Council event attended by Italian Ambassador, Mariangela Zappia

“Una Squadra Vincente” – “A Winning Team” is the moniker that today’s Atlantic Council issue brief gave to the partnership between Italy and the United States in the defense industry, during an event on “The US-Italian defense relationship: A strategic and industrial partnership” organized by the prestigious U.S. think tank. H.E. Mariangela Zappia, Ambassador of Italy to the United States, delivered the keynote address.

“Italy has always chosen Atlanticism in its foreign and defense policy and in its defense industry relations,” said Ambassador Zappia, noting also that, “even after Afghanistan, our commitment to NATO and military cooperation with the U.S. continue to be steadfast in Kosovo and Iraq, where next year we will lead both the KFOR and NMI missions”.

“The privileged relationship between our two Countries has allowed Italy to access the US market, and to shine as a “trusted partner” in the defense industry”, added Ambassador Zappia, pointing out that “Italian companies such as Leonardo and Fincantieri, to mention the larger ones, play an increasingly important role in the US. Equally, major US groups such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing have successfully invested in Italy”.

The value of the industrial partnership between Italy and the United States in defense is the focus of the new report of the Atlantic Council, which chose Italy as a first “case study” in a series on U.S. industrial relations with allied countries in the sector. “Italy has long been an export customer of American armaments manufacturers, but during the past twenty years, Italy’s own defense-industrial capabilities have proven important to American customers as well” the report points out, noting that “during the process, Italian firms have become integral to the US defense-industrial supply chain.” The report, edited by Mauro Gilli, a researcher at the Center for Security Studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and James Hasik, non-resident senior fellow at the Scowcroft Center on Strategy and Security of the Atlantic Council, aims to fully illustrate the Italy-US partnership in the defense industry. Furthermore, the brief explains how, if fully exploited, this partnership could help achieve strategic objectives and preserve the supply chains necessary for US national security.