Because Italy is more than a geographic expression..

Alessi S.P.A. US

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Italy To Provide F-35 Maintenance

I don't post too many news articles on this sit but this is relevant I should think:

"...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’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.”

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/aviation/article4427578.html#storylink=cpy