The Department of State has approved Italy’s request to purchase missiles and small diameter bombs.
According to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the Italian government separately proposed to buy 12 AIM-120C-8 advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles and 125 units of small diameter bombs.
The foreign military sale would cost Rome $69.3 million for the missile procurement and another $150 million for the bomb deliveries, the agency added.
For both acquisitions, Italy would also receive associated equipment, spare parts, consumables, software and other elements of technical, logistics and program support.
The DSCA noted that Italy has existing inventories of the AMRAAMs and the SDB-II, meaning that the country would readily integrate the equipment into its armed forces.
Additionally, the potential FMS deal will modernize Rome’s air-to-air munitions and bolster the weapons capabilities of its F-35 fleet, allowing the nation to address existing and emerging threats effectively.
RTX is the primary contractor for the upcoming twin agreements.
Notably, the announcement did not specify if the United States and Italy had finalized the deals or concluded the negotiations.
