Call to arms for the Italian railway network. At the request of NATO and the EU, Italy will adapt rail transport by enabling rails and railways that normally transport goods and passengers also for the circulation of military armaments. No more surprise, therefore, at the possible passage of tanks in our stations. The plan will be realized thanks to the agreement between Leonardo and Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) to carry out a project within the framework of Military Mobility, an EU initiative to increase existing infrastructural and digital capabilities, to ensure the movement of military resources to inside and outside Europe. A non-secondary aspect: the movement can also take place at short notice and on a large scale, guaranteeing safe, sustainable and resilient transport capabilities.
Not only that, this adaptation, underway in all countries according to the Action Plan for Military Mobility 2.0, will be a further step in the attempt to create an integrated European defense project. On the other hand, the EU has one of the densest railway networks in the world, although national railway systems vary from one member state to another. In the 1990s, a process was started to improve the compatibility of the national railway systems of the Member States: the Single European Railway Area. «We must ensure that when a crisis occurs, the armed forces of the Member States can move quickly. That military trucks and containers can cross the borders of our Union without problems”, explained the current Competition Commissioner, Margrethe Vestager on the occasion of the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
In a short time, therefore, the 24 thousand kilometers of tracks that connect the Italian peninsula from North to South will be dual-use, i.e. infrastructures that can be used both for commercial and civil activities, and for defense and security. They will thus transport weapons if necessary, but also military vehicles.
As part of the collaboration with RFI (controlled by the FS), Leonardo will express its skills in terms of technology with the support of advanced artificial intelligence techniques on multiple fronts.
«The two companies – says Lorenzo Mariani, co-director general of Leonardo – will be able to contribute effectively to the European Military Mobility plan, guaranteeing a synergistic approach between the EU and NATO with the aim of strengthening an autonomous national capacity for the protection of critical and strategic infrastructures. Artificial Intelligence solutions combined with the very high computing capabilities of the davinci-1 HPC, one of the fundamental assets at the center of Leonardo’s digitalization path and industrial plan, will ensure maximum performance for big data processing and data analysis.”
Demonstrating the great ferment in the Italian defense business, Fincantieri is very close to purchasing Wass (Whitehead Alenia systems subaquei) from Leonardo, the naval armaments subsidiary of the former Finmeccanica, a leading company in the production of torpedoes, sonar and defense systems divers.
A 300 million operation that will strengthen Italy in the underwater military sector, as well as the collaboration between Leonardo’s CEO Roberto Cingolani and Fincantieri’s counterpart, Pierroberto Folgiero.
Tags: War trains return transport army
