Italian Military Chief Likely to Snub Boeing

Italian Military Chief Likely to Snub Boeing

By Colin Clark Monday, July 14th, 2008 2:49 pm
Posted in Air, International

The Italian chief of the defense staff, Gen. Vincenzo Camporini, is reportedly so angry with the Boeing Co.‘s handling of the tanker contract with Italy that he is refusing to meet with Boeing officials during his visit to the Farnborough Air Show. Camporini is expected to arrive at the show outside of London on Tuesday.

The Italians took the risk of being the first country to sign a contract with Boeing for the modified 767 tankers, signing a contract for four KC-767 tankers four years ago for somewhere between $700 million and $861 million.

Camporini faces a challenging political climate, with the Italian premier, Silvio Berlusconi, viewed as a staunch American ally. In addition, the Italian company Finmeccanica is a major force in Boeing’s tanker efforts. Two of its components, Alenia Aerospazio and Aeronavali, hold a program share of up to 20 percent. They take part in all phases of the program, including design, development, production and logistics. Aeronavali is the lead in Italy for the Italian tankers. It is also builds the modification kits for aircraft sold to other countries. On top of that, the troubled Italian airline, Alitalia, provides logistics support for the Italian tankers. In general, Finmeccanica has great political influence in Italy, primarily due to its large workforce.

Camporini has reportedly said he is at war with Finmeccanica because of what he views as general poor performance of the program — the tankers are at least three years late — and less than candid assessments provided to the Italian military. That leaves him with principles to follow and a difficult political calculus to balance.

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Old391 July 15th, 2008 at 5:59 am

Another Satisfied Boeing Tanker Customer. It is amazing that the only 767 tankers Boeing has sold are too two of it suppliers that make the 767 airframe and they are late in those deliveries. Maybe the other countries such as Great Britian, Australia and UAE chose another tanker because that company listened to what they needed not what Boeing insisted on.

Sgt JFK July 15th, 2008 at 7:51 am

Wow!! Where is that 50 years of tanker production experience here? SuzyQ, any thoughts? I seem to remember something in the GAO report stating that Boeing was performing poorly with current tanker support contracts with the USAF as well. Looks like if the contract goes to Boeing, we’ll have the potential for yet another case of costs going out of control for a product with less than the promised capability arriving later than expected. Not to shift the focus of this but there needs to be a way to hold these contractors liable for their performance. I’m not just talking about Boeing. You have the Marine EFV, the Navy’s most recent ships, the Army’s comm systems and now the Osprey needs new engines. Another reason we need competition for these contracts. In the absence of domestic competition, (no more Lockheed or M.Douglas widebodies) we have to use foreign companies. Sorry for rambling.

RayStantz July 17th, 2008 at 8:57 am

I hate to sound like the big fat American here; the problem with this is? Camporini sounds as if he is taking this personal.

JESTER1 July 17th, 2008 at 1:10 pm

I do hope that the committee assigned to the re-evaluation of the contract will make the correct decision. The Air Force failed to substantiate their reservations in not awarding the contract to Boeing.

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