I don't post too many news articles on this sit but this is relevant I should think:
"Italy’s Cameri air base will become the European hub for maintenance
of F-35 fighter jets stationed in Europe, the U.S. Defense Department
said Thursday.
“Italy invested nearly $1 billion in building” the Cameri facility in northern Italy, “and it’s very hard, on a cost basis and value basis, to match that,” Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, the Pentagon’s F-35 program manager, told reporters in Washington, D.C. “Italy is a stable and very important partner.”
"...Lockheed is developing three
variants of the F-35 for the U.S. military and eight partners that
funded its development: Britain, Australia, Italy, Norway, Turkey, the
Netherlands, Denmark and Canada. Israel, Japan and South Korea have
also placed orders for the planes.
The Marine Corps plans to start initial combat use of the planes in July 2015, with the Air Force following suit in 2016.
In
Italy, much of the work will be done by Finmeccanica SpA's Alenia,
which manages a $1 billion-plus government-owned final assembly and
checkout facility in Cameri."
Italy continues its strong aviation tradition:
“Italy invested nearly $1 billion in building” the Cameri facility in northern Italy, “and it’s very hard, on a cost basis and value basis, to match that,” Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, the Pentagon’s F-35 program manager, told reporters in Washington, D.C. “Italy is a stable and very important partner.”
