© 2021 IAIISSN 2280-6164DOCUMENTI IAI 21 | 05 - APRIL 2021
Defence | Technology | Procurement | NATO | US | European Union |
France | Germany | Italy | Poland | Turkey | United Kingdom
Europe’s Missile Defence and Italy:
Capabilities and Cooperation
edited by Alessandro Marrone and Karolina Muti
ABSTRACT
Europe’s missile defence is structurally linked to NATO
deterrence and defence architecture, and it has to face both
a worsened international security environment and an
accelerating, worldwide technological innovation. Russia and
China are heavily investing in new hypersonic systems which
dramatically decrease the time needed to reach the target
by flying mostly within the atmosphere. The US remains a
global leader in the development and deployment of missile
defence capabilities, including the Aegis systems which
represent the cornerstone of NATO integrate air and missile
defence covering the Old Continent. European countries are
increasingly collaborating within the EU framework on the
related capability development, primarily via the TWISTER
project under the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PeSCo).
Being exposed to missile threats from Middle East and North
Africa and participating to allied nuclear sharing, Italy has a
primary interest in upgrading its military capabilities through
PeSCo, maintaining them fully integrated within NATO, and
involving the national defence industry in cutting-edge
procurement programmes.
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