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Black Hawk Crash in Italy Kills Five U.S. Servicemembers

Per domani buona giornata di sciopero generalizzato a chi lo fa.


Black Hawk Crash in Italy Kills Five U.S. Servicemembers
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 8, 2007 – Five U.S. servicemembers died today after a U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed in northern Italy.
Eleven U.S. servicemembers were aboard the helicopter, which was attached to 1st Battalion, 214th Aviation Regiment, according to a news release from the Heidelberg, Germany, headquarters of U.S. Army, Europe. The battalion is based in Mannheim, Germany.
The USAREUR release did not provide information on the service affiliation of those aboard the helicopter, the condition of the survivors or the nature of the ill-fated mission.
Names of the dead are being withheld until families are notified, and officials will conduct an investigation to determine the cause of the crash. 

Italy Draft Budget Finds Cash for New Programs
By TOM KINGTON
ROME — Buoyed by a potential increase in spending in 2008, Italian defense planners have allotted funds to start a series of acquisitions next year, including helicopters, submarines, maritime patrol aircraft and signals intelligence planes. Defense officials previously announced their intention to fund new U-212 submarines, Chinooks for the Army, and EH101s for Air Force combat search and rescue, but the 2008 draft budget, obtained by Defense News, also lists two new aircraft programs. The document includes 10 million euros ($14.2 million) to launch a 400 million euro program to replace Italy’s aging Atlantic maritime patrol aircraft by 2016. A defense source said no aircraft has been selected, although officials are mulling the Italo-French ATR 72 turboprop since Italy pulled out of Boeing’s 737 Multimission Maritime Aircraft program due to budget shortfalls. Ten million euros is also listed to start acquisition of a “Joint Airborne Multisensor Multimission System with signals intelligence capability,” according to the budget document. The Italian General Staff is handling the program, with no platform yet selected, a second defense source said. The plan does, however, resemble a long-standing Air Force study into a signals intelligence capability using a business jet-size aircraft. The amounts provided for the new programs are small but reflect confidence in getting new programs under way and then sustaining them. This contrasts with recent patterns when an array of procurements were launched then slowly drip-fed by diminishing defense budgets. The 2008 spending document totals 15.22 billion euros — 0.95 percent of gross domestic product — including 2.52 billion euros for maintenance and operations; 9 billion for personnel; and 3.63 billion for investment, which includes procurement. Assuming the budget makes it through parliamentary debates intact until Christmas, when Italy’s overall budget for 2008 is finally signed off, next year’s spending marks a 5.4 percent increase over 2007, with investment up 10.9 percent. 
One analyst advised caution, however.
“We need to see what happens now — don’t forget this is officially the military’s request for funds,” said Michele Nones, head of the security and defense department at the Istituto Affari Internazionali, a think tank here that is funded in part by the Italian Foreign Ministry. “But this does follow the government’s halting of the decline in Italian defense spending last year, and we are now seeing a tendency to invest in new programs,” he added. “It is still not, however, an accurate reflection of the real needs of the Italian military. That is still a long way off.” The spending document states that apart from the forthcoming parliamentary debate on spending, existing and pending legislation could yet trim hundreds of millions of euros from defense spending next year. Without giving numbers, the spending document refers to a healthy contribution for acquisitions from Italy’s Industry Ministry, outside the defense budget, covering new Army vehicles; new FREMM frigates, with officials hoping to sign for four in 2008; self-protection systems for Italy’s C-27J tactical transports; and up to 15 new M346 jet trainers from Italy’s Aermacchi. Ministry of Defense funds, meanwhile, will cover the launch of the acquisition of two U-212 submarines to join the two already purchased by Italy. The spending document cites a current cost of 970 million euros for the first two — up from the 920 million euros listed in previous documents — and 915 million euros for the second pair. Eight million euros is set aside to launch the likely purchase of new CH-47F helicopters, with 16 helos cited for a total cost of 850 million euros with procurement to be completed by 2015. The draft budget also lists 15 million euros to start buying replacements for the Air Force’s HH-3F combat search-and-rescue helicopters. Officials previously said they would like to buy the AW101, the upgraded EH101 that AgustaWestland is now marketing. The document lists a total spend of 630 million euros by 2014. Other new numbers include a 15 million euro contribution to the NATO strategic airlift pool, while the document also cites, without quantifying, spending on Predator UAVs. The Italian Air Force now has four Predator As, with two on order that are expected to arrive in 2008, an official said. “Upgrades are also planned for the four in service, with a possible future purchase of the Predator B not excluded,” the official said.