Istalia

[XanderOne]

Government presents the “Defense Program 5700”: a new decisive step to full effectiveness of National Defense

Between technology, investments and strategic vision, Istalia aims to fully reaffirm itself among the world’s major military powers

Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Eugenio Palomara presenting the new defense program to the press

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August 5660

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ROMULA - Finally, after months of debates within the majority, concessions and promises made to the liberal allies, and the intense personal committment of Valeriano Giunio, the government has officially presented the “Defense Program 5700”, defined by the Ministry of the Secretariat of State as "the guiding star for achieving the full efficiency and effectiveness of the National Defense". A new ambitious initiative that follow the first White Book of Defense and which aims to definitively bring Istalia back to the strategic-operational standards that in the past made it one of the main military powers on the planet.

Confirming the scope of the program, the Defense General Staff has hailed the program as a decisive step towards the full maturity of the Defense system, underlining how in many areas the Istalian Armed Forces already compete at high levels with those of the major global powers.

An important section of the Program will be dedicated to the introduction of unmanned systems, both reconnaissance and attack, for all branches of the Armed Forces. These devices will be fully integrated into the Integrated Tactical Information Network (RITI), providing real-time data essential for operations and multiplying intervention capabilities in increasingly complex scenarios.

Specifically for the Army, a new attack helicopter and a modern Main Battle Tank will be developed. The land component will also benefit, as said, from the integration of tactical drones for reconnaissance and offensive action, as well as a new transport aircraft which will be developed for both the Army and the Air Force. The MBT, as already confirmed by the Defense, will be equiped with the new 120/55 gun and METEORA guided munition recently tested by OTO Al-Mehare Armaments.

The Imperial Air Force, in addition to the aforementioned transport aircraft, will receive a new tanker aircraft by Ajax Aeronautics which has already announced its intention to use the order by the Defense to relaunch an entire project for a new civilian aircrafts family, which developement began already under the Socialist Republic, when the company was under state ownership, but than it was suspended due to the Peninsula War.

As for the combat aircraft, important developments concern the controversial Ajax F-52 “Tuono”, the flagship of the New Generation Air Combat System. The initial order, due to the explosion of costs, has been drastically reduced to just half of the planned aircraft, although rumors says that it could be further reduced to just a third. The criticisms, forcefully advanced by UOD, D&L and PRL, but also by a part of the PNL, have further intensified in the last sessions of the Budget Committee of the Congress. The Hosian Democrats, that granted their support to the Program after the Collective Bargaining Reform, this time found themself alignd with the other two junior parties, which already accepted with reluctance and that now are waiting for the Privatizations program.

Thus, to contain costs and support the F-52 with a more versatile platform, the development of a new multi-role fighter will be started starting from pre-existing projects never realized. Accredited sources speak of the Leonardi PNFP-300, conceived under the Seventh Republic and further developed during the Socialist Republic, when Leonardi had been integrated into the state-owned company "Industria Avionica Nazionale". The new fighter will be more compact and less performing than the F-52, but optimized for air-to-ground missions and equipped with cutting-edge sensors and high stealth. The new fighter will be able to cover very diversified roles, such as fighter-bomber, for support missions of the ground forces and even intelligence missions.

The Program also foresees massive investments for the Imperial Navy obviously. The second production phases of the Audace class frigates (further 8 units + 4 optional) and Soldati class (16 new units, of which 8 in full version, 3 in light+ version, easily convertible to the full version, and the rest in light version) will be completed.

Furthermore, the development and future construction of:

• 16 stealth submarines with independent air propulsion, in four different lots. Air-independent propulsion has already been widely exploited in the past by Istalia, which has built several excellent vessels of this type, but DIRSAD will have funding to develop and then test, probably in the last batch of the project, a new propulsion system considered much more performing.
  

• 4 Merevino-class Logistic Support Ships, the result of a Leonardi-DIRSAD project originating in the First White Paper of Defense;
  
• 3 new amphibious assault units: 1 multi-role LHD and 2 LHP (respectively inspired by the effective historical Impero-class and the Ardito-class);
  
• 2 new helicopter carriers specifically designed for anti-submarine warfare.
  
• Preliminary studies will be funded on a new class of nuclear-powered attack submarine.
  

To ensure the operational effectiveness of these new platforms, a new multi-role helicopter will be developed suitable for utility, SAR, reconnaissance, but above all ASW, ASuW, command and troop transport tasks. A second, lighter utility helicopter will be produced for all Armed Forces, police forces and civilian agencies, including a commercial version.

A central section of the Program will be dedicated to the development and updating of advanced missile systems, including:

• air-to-air, air-to-ground, surface-to-surface, surface-to-air missiles;
  
• cruise, anti-ship, anti-ballistic and anti-satellite systems.
  

The production of guided ammunition for naval artillery will also be relaunched, a tradition of Istalian excellence, now updated with the most modern technologies and also adapted to new anti-aircraft systems and land-based guns.

Finally, the DIRSAD will begin the research and development of a supersonic weapons dedicated to all the Forces, from cruise missiles for the combat fighters of the Air Force to anti-ship and surface-to-surface missiles for Navy and Army, in response to the developments of similar weapons by other powers and which currently are considered as one of the most concerning development of the military technology. The DIRSAD, in increasing the kwnoledge and the know-how over this technology, will start also a program to develop effective counter measures for such kind of weapons, in the form of "hypersonic-killing missile", although the research will investigate also the possibility to use directed-energy weapons to shoot down hypersonic weapons.

The “Defense Program 5700” represents not only a strategic investment for national security, but also an industrial and technological driving force. The government expects a strong employment and technological return for Istalian industries in the sector, and positive impacts also on the civil market, thanks to dual-use applications and technology that can be converted and apllied for commercial uses.