ROME- Italy has significantly increased its financial commitment to the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), allocating €875 million to the sixth-generation fighter project in 2026 while reducing spending on new main battle tanks and armoured fighting vehicles.
The Italian Defence Ministry submitted the delayed 2026 defence budget to parliament for approval during the week of November 9, revealing substantial differences between planned and reported spending across several major military programmes.
GCAP Fighter Funding Rises
Italy’s GCAP spending reached €875 million ($970 million) in 2026, compared with €625 million in 2025. The latest figure is also significantly higher than the €275 million that planners had projected for the programme’s 2026 spending in the previous year’s budget document.
The 2026 budget forecasts €696 million in GCAP spending for 2027, indicating that the programme will continue receiving substantial financial support as development progresses. GCAP is a joint initiative involving Italy, the United Kingdom and Japan to develop a sixth-generation combat aircraft intended to enter service from 2035.
In July 2026, the three partner nations awarded an £4.6 billion ($6.1 billion) development contract to Edgewing, the industrial joint venture responsible for designing and developing the fighter.
The 18-month agreement covers the next phase of aircraft design, engineering and assessment, advancing the programme towards full development.
Tank Spending Falls
While funding for GCAP increased, Italy’s spending on its next-generation armoured vehicle programmes declined considerably. The latest budget document puts combined spending on the new Lynx infantry fighting vehicles, Panther main battle tanks and upgrades to the existing Ariete fleet at €177 million in 2026.
That represents a reduction from €281 million in 2025 and is substantially below the €425 million projected for 2026 in the previous budget document.
The programmes form part of a broader €23 billion procurement plan involving German defence manufacturer Rheinmetall and Italy’s Leonardo.
The procurement plan envisages the delivery of 1,050 Lynx infantry fighting vehicles and 272 Panther main battle tanks. However, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto announced in July that the government intended to reduce programme costs by 18%.
The latest budget forecasts a significant increase in combined funding for the three armoured vehicle programmes to €872 million in 2027. This suggests that the lower 2026 spending figure does not necessarily represent a permanent reduction in the planned procurement effort.
F-35 Funding Also Declines
Italy’s F-35 programme also received less funding than previously anticipated. The country allocated €782 million to the programme in 2026, compared with the €961 million that planners had projected in the previous budget document.
Italy plans to acquire a total of 115 F-35 aircraft as part of its long-term military aviation modernisation effort. The programme includes both conventional F-35A fighters and short takeoff and vertical landing F-35B variants, Defense News flagged.
A tally of individual programme allocations puts Italy’s 2026 defence spending at approximately €12.8 billion, around €307 million higher than the €12.5 billion calculated from the previous year’s programme breakdown. However, the full section detailing total expenditure was not available to Defense News when it reviewed the document.
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