International Defence Cooperation – Italy's Partnerships

Overview

Italy's Defence Diplomacy Framework

Italy conducts defence cooperation through a layered architecture: NATO, the European Union's common security and defence structures, bilateral defence cooperation agreements, and ad hoc partnerships tailored to specific operational or industrial needs. As of 2024, Italy maintains formal bilateral defence cooperation agreements with more than 60 countries, managed through a network of defence attachés in major capitals and supported by joint commissions, exchange programmes and arms cooperation arrangements.

The Ministry of Defence's International Relations Directorate (Direzione Generale per gli Affari Generali e il Personale — Ufficio Relazioni Internazionali) oversees this network, coordinating with the Foreign Ministry and the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) on strategic alignment. Defence cooperation serves multiple Italian interests: sustaining interoperability within alliances; supporting Italian defence industry exports and co-development; projecting stabilising influence in Italy's strategic neighbourhood (Mediterranean, Middle East, Horn of Africa, Sahel); and building political capital with partner nations.

Under Crosetto, international defence cooperation has been elevated as a strategic priority — consistent with his background in defence industry and his understanding that Italy's geopolitical weight depends not only on what it buys and builds, but on the quality and density of its relationships with allies and partners.

60+

Bilateral defence agreements

40+

Defence attachés abroad

3

Alliance memberships (NATO, EU CSDP, OSCE)

GCAP

Next-generation fighter programme (UK, Japan)

European Partners

Key European Bilateral Relationships

Quirinale Treaty

France – The Strategic Partnership

The Quirinale Treaty, signed on 26 November 2021 by Presidents Macron and Mattarella and Prime Ministers Draghi and Castets (ratified 2022), is the defining framework of Italy-France bilateral relations. Modelled loosely on the Franco-German Elysée Treaty, the Quirinale Treaty provides for enhanced coordination in European affairs, foreign policy, defence, research, culture and border management. In the defence domain, it established a bilateral committee on defence cooperation, envisages joint military exercises, encourages industrial cooperation, and creates mechanisms for coordination at NATO and EU level.

The defence industrial dimension of the France-Italy relationship is particularly deep. MBDA, the European missile manufacturer, is a French-Italian-British joint venture; the FREMM class frigate programme was co-developed by France (Naval Group) and Italy (Fincantieri) through OCCAR (the European armaments cooperation organisation); and Airbus Helicopters and Leonardo cooperate on helicopter platforms. The AW101/NH90 programme demonstrates how Italian-French industrial cooperation can produce platforms adopted by multiple NATO allies. The Quirinale Treaty aims to deepen these ties and create a political framework that ensures industrial cooperation is not disrupted by commercial disputes or changing national priorities.

Quirinale Treaty — Defence Elements

Signed 26 November 2021, Rome

Defence committee Annual bilateral meeting at ministerial level

Joint exercises Coordinated with NATO and EU frameworks

Industrial co-operation MBDA, FREMM, NH90, AW101

EU CSDP Coordinate positions in PESCO, EDF, CARD

Central Europe

Germany

Italy and Germany cooperate closely within NATO's eastern flank framework and in EU CSDP structures. Germany is Italy's largest trading partner overall, and the defence industrial relationship is significant: KNDS (Krauss-Maffei Wegmann/Nexter), Rheinmetall and German electronics firms interact with Leonardo and other Italian companies. Italian-German coordination in the EU Military Committee and in NATO's Defence Planning Process is regular and substantive. Both countries participate in PESCO projects and Rheinmetall has invested substantially in Italian defence industrial capacity.

Southern Europe

Spain

Spain and Italy share similar geostrategic perspectives: both are southern NATO members concerned with Mediterranean security, both participate in European defence cooperation, and both operate modern, capable armed forces. Spain and Italy cooperate in Operation Irini (EU maritime mission in Libya), in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) — where both have contributed large contingents — and within the Eurofighter Typhoon programme (Italy and Spain are among the four Eurofighter partner nations alongside Germany and the UK). The Spain-Italy relationship is also an important one within the EU, where the two countries often coordinate on Mediterranean policy.

Post-Brexit

United Kingdom

The UK's departure from the EU complicated — but did not sever — bilateral defence cooperation with Italy. The two countries have a long-standing military relationship rooted in shared NATO membership and parallel strategic priorities. Most visibly, Italy and the UK (alongside Japan) are co-developing the next-generation combat aircraft under the GCAP (Global Combat Air Programme) framework. Leonardo is a prime contractor in the GCAP programme alongside BAE Systems (UK) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan). The programme is a flagship example of post-Brexit bilateral UK-Italy engagement, demonstrating that strategic industrial cooperation can be maintained outside EU frameworks.

Indo-Pacific

GCAP and the Japan Partnership

The Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) represents Italy's most ambitious international industrial and defence cooperation commitment since the Eurofighter. Formally launched in December 2022 through a trilateral agreement between Italy, the United Kingdom and Japan, GCAP aims to develop a sixth-generation combat aircraft to enter service around 2035, replacing Italy's Eurofighter Typhoon and Tornado fleets (the latter already being retired), the UK's Typhoons, and Japan's F-2 fighters.

For Italy, GCAP is simultaneously an industrial, strategic and alliance-management opportunity. On the industrial side, Leonardo is positioned as the Italian prime contractor, working alongside BAE Systems and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries; the programme will sustain high-end aeronautics and electronics capabilities in Italy. Strategically, the programme gives Italy a privileged relationship with Japan — a partner in the Indo-Pacific that shares concerns about China's military modernisation — and reinforces ties with the United Kingdom in the post-Brexit landscape.

Crosetto has been a consistent champion of the GCAP programme, defending it against budget pressures and domestic scepticism. He has met with Japanese defence ministers to advance the programme's governance structure, including the establishment of GIGO (the GCAP International Government Organisation) to manage the programme on behalf of the three partner nations. GIGO was formally established in December 2023 with headquarters in London.

Italy-Japan Bilateral Ties

Beyond GCAP, Italy and Japan have deepened their security relationship. Both countries are members of the G7 and share concerns about the rules-based international order. Italy has attended Indo-Pacific dialogues and Italy's navy has participated in Freedom of Navigation operations in the Indo-Pacific. A Japan-Italy defence cooperation agreement provides the framework for joint exercises, exchange programmes and arms/technology cooperation. The GCAP-driven relationship is transforming what was once a relatively modest bilateral defence relationship into a genuinely strategic partnership.

GCAP Programme

Full name Global Combat Air Programme

Partners Italy, United Kingdom, Japan

Launched December 2022

Italy prime contractor Leonardo S.p.A.

UK prime contractor BAE Systems

Japan prime contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Programme governance GIGO (est. December 2023, London)

Target IOC c. 2035

Italian aircraft replaced Eurofighter Typhoon (successor)

Southern Neighbourhood

Mediterranean Dialogue and African Partners

Italy's geopolitical identity is inseparable from the Mediterranean. As a peninsula stretching into the central Mediterranean with islands — Sicily, Sardinia, Pantelleria, Lampedusa — that sit near the coast of North Africa, Italy has unique exposure to Mediterranean instability and a unique stake in the region's security architecture.

Mediterranean Dialogue Partners

NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) includes seven non-NATO partner nations from the MENA region: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. Italy is one of the most active allies in the Mediterranean Dialogue, given its geographic proximity and long-standing diplomatic relationships with North African and Middle Eastern states. Bilateral defence cooperation with MD partners covers capacity building, military education, equipment provision and occasional joint exercises.

African Partnerships (Non-NATO)

Italy maintains bilateral defence cooperation agreements with a number of African states beyond the Mediterranean Dialogue framework, reflecting both Italy's legacy relationships from its colonial period and its contemporary interests in regional stability and migration management. Key partnerships include those with Libya (complex, managed carefully given ongoing instability), Niger (suspended following the 2023 coup), Senegal, Ethiopia, and the East African states where Italy has maintained a presence through anti-piracy operations (Operation Atalanta, EU).

The Mattei Plan for Africa — a government-wide Italian initiative announced in 2023 — provides an overarching framework for Italian engagement with Africa that includes a security cooperation dimension, managed in part through the Ministry of Defence.

The Balkans and Eastern Europe

Italy has historically been deeply engaged in the Western Balkans, having led or contributed significantly to IFOR, SFOR and KFOR in the 1990s and 2000s. Italy currently maintains a significant presence in KFOR (Kosovo) and has bilateral defence cooperation agreements with all Western Balkan states. In the broader Eastern European context, Italy participates in NATO's enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) in the Baltic states and contributes to multinational battlegroups under NATO command.

Active Missions

Italy's Current Multilateral Deployments

UNIFIL (Lebanon) — major contributor
KFOR (Kosovo) — long-standing presence
Operation Irini (EU, Libya maritime)
Operation Atalanta (EU, anti-piracy)
NATO eFP (Baltic states)
EUNAVFOR MED Aspides (Red Sea)
Various bilateral capacity-building missions in Africa

Multilateral Frameworks

Key Cooperative Architectures

NATO — collective defence and operations
EU CSDP — operations and capability development
PESCO — 25+ projects
European Defence Fund (EDF)
OCCAR — cooperative armament procurement
LoI/FA — letter of intent framework (6 nations)
NATO Mediterranean Dialogue
Istanbul Cooperation Initiative

Institutional Architecture

Defence Attachés and Military Exchange

Diplomatic Network

Defence Attaché Corps

Italy maintains defence attachés (addetti militari) in more than 40 capitals worldwide, embedded in embassies and accredited to host nation armed forces. These officers manage the day-to-day bilateral defence relationship: they facilitate visits, manage training programmes, track the military capacity of the host country, provide early warning of military developments, and represent the Ministry of Defence in the diplomatic community. Italy also receives defence attachés from partner nations accredited to the Italian Ministry of Defence in Rome.

Education & Training

Military Exchange Programmes

Italy's military academies — the Military Academy in Modena (Army), the Naval Academy in Livorno, the Air Force Academy in Pozzuoli, and the War College in Rome (ISSMI) — accept foreign students and officers as part of bilateral education agreements. Italian officers attend partner nation staff colleges, including the US National Defense University, the UK's Shrivenham Defence Academy and the German Führungsakademie. These exchanges create long-term relationships between officer corps, build mutual understanding and sustain interoperability at the human level.

Arms & Technology

Defence Trade and Transfer

Italy is a significant defence exporter and importer. Under the framework of bilateral defence cooperation agreements, Italy has exported platforms including the AW family of helicopters (through Leonardo Helicopters), Fincantieri frigates and offshore patrol vessels, Beretta firearms, MBDA missiles, and electronic warfare systems. Export policy is subject to Law 185/1990 (the arms export control law) and EU Common Position 2008/944/CFSP. The Ministry of Defence, in conjunction with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and MISE (Ministry of Enterprise), evaluates export licence applications.

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