The bilateral committee between Italy and Sweden was held today at Palazzo Guidoni, the headquarters of Segredifesa. The national delegations were led, for Italy, by General of the Army Corps Luciano Portolano, Secretary General of Defense and National Director of Armaments, and for Sweden, by the National Director of Armaments, Mr. Carl Göran Mårtensson.
The Secretary General, after extending the greetings of the Minister of Defense Guido Crosetto to his Scandinavian counterpart, highlighted how the excellent relations between the two countries, whose relations have always been marked by collaboration and stability, facilitate a fruitful exchange of information. In this context, delegations presented their mutual positions on defence policy and national perspectives on the security situation in Europe, with particular reference to their respective initiatives in support of Ukraine within the Ukrainian Defence Contact Group (UKCG).
Mr. Mårtensson, in expressing his satisfaction with the topics discussed in the bilateral meeting, brought greetings from Defense Minister Pål Jonson, with the hope that relations between the two countries can be further strengthened.
The Bilateral Committee made it possible to address various topics in the field of defence procurement. In particular, in the terrestrial domain, some European cooperation initiatives were discussed, such as the Multinational Cooperation on All-Terrain Vehicles (MATV) and the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS).
In the naval domain, the aim was to promote the exchange of information in the field of heavy torpedoes, with the hope of future cooperation between the respective naval forces and, with regard to the air domain, there was strong Swedish interest in the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), already considered for some time an initiative of extreme value that will determine the future operational and industrial capabilities of the sector, also defining the levels of operational and technological sovereignty that the participating countries will be able to express.
In the space domain, and more specifically in the context of military cooperation on Earth observation capabilities, a collaboration will be developed with Sweden to evaluate the possibility of using the Esrange Space Center site in Kyrun – within the Arctic Circle – with the aim of increasing the operational capabilities of Italian Defense satellites. In closing, the opportunity of joint procurement for the proposal of projects to be financed at European level within the “European Defence Industry Reinforcement trough common Procurement Act” EDIRPA was discussed, which will also allow to cope with the growing difficulties in supplying equipment and resources, especially in this historical moment that led Sweden to officially ask to be able to join the NATO, following the increased perception of a Russian threat in the Scandinavian area.
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