The Austrian Ministry of Defense intends to purchase a total of 18 Leonardo AW169M multi-purpose helicopters. The defense ministers of Austria and Italy signed a corresponding agreement on Thursday.

A mutual declaration of intent, a “Letter of Intent”, on this “government-to-government” deal was signed in November, but the project has now been given concrete form with the administrative agreement at government level. Now the respective specialists can also implement the procurement process.

“The important thing about this administrative agreement with Italy is the cooperation beyond the area of ​​procurement. By that I mean, for example, training, logistics, material maintenance and the possibility of shared use of simulators, ”says Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner. The cooperation with the Italian armed forces will enable targeted training on this multi-purpose helicopter starting as early as the spring of 2022. The first two “Leonardo AW169M” helicopters are expected to arrive by the end of next year 2022 - training can then begin directly in Austria, the Minister of Defense is pleased to say.

During her visit to Rome, Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner also visited the headquarters of Operation EUNAVFOR Med IRINI. This is a military operation by 24 countries of the European Union, the aim of which is to enforce the United Nations arms embargo on Libya, which is at a civil war, while training the Libyan coast guard and counteracting the smuggling of arms and people. Six Austrians are deployed as staff officers on this mission.

Italy is also an important partner for Austria in the context of further joint operations for the purpose of peace stabilization and peacekeeping. "We work closely together in various international missions and operations, including in the Western Balkans (KFOR and EUFOR ALTHEA), in the Near and Middle East (UNIFIL ) and in West Africa in Mali (EUTM MLI), which is why joint training activities and staff exercises are so important, says Tanner.

Another point of cooperation is the cross-border surveillance of the airspace, the so-called "pursuit", as it has been carried out successfully with Switzerland for years and is ultimately planned with all neighboring countries, says the Defense Minister. “Here it is our intention to conclude an agreement for the Austro-Italian airspace with Italy as well. The first round of talks will take place at the end of January 2022, ”said Tanner.