Abstract
This paper analyses the ability of the Italian Armed forces to innovate in the face of rapid technological change in the post-1945 European “long peace” by investigating two case studies in two different timeframes. In the first section, we look at how the Italian Navy reacted to the challenge posed by the introduction of the military exploitation of nuclear energy – both as a propellent and as an explosive - in the late 1950s and in the 1960s. Faced with the opportunity of a rapid transformation of its role, the Navy reacted with a host of interesting initiatives both in the 2 theoretical and in the technological field. Such a creative outburst, however, petered out in the following years due to a number of different obstacles. In the second section of the essay, we explore how the Italian Air Force has, up to this moment, addressed the challenges associated with the introduction of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The analysis shows that the IAF largely anticipated the challenges and the opportunities brought about by procurement of 5th generation aircraft and has, accordingly, steadily and continuously pursued innovation in both conceptual and technological terms. To conclude, we discuss the similarities and the discontinuities between the two cases focusing on how the Italian Armed Forces approached military innovation (bottom-up/top-down, centralized/decentralized), the kinds of innovation they were able to generate (technological, conceptual, long-cycle/short cycle) and the major driving factors (civil-military relations/alliances/culture/threats/bureaucratic politics). These will be then employed to draw broader inferences regarding the implication of the armed forces’ innovation for Italian defense policy.
Panel: Military Innovation in the Long Peace
Cite this presentation
@inproceedings{eiss-2019-keeping-pace-technological-change-and-military-innovation-in-the-italian-armed-f,
author = {Leopoldo Nuti and Niccolò Petrelli},
title = {Keeping Pace: Technological Change and Military Innovation in the Italian Armed Forces},
booktitle = {European Security Studies Conference 2019},
year = {2019},
url = {https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2019-keeping-pace-technological-change-and-military-innovation-in-the-italian-armed-f.html}
}