Italy is determined to proceed aggressively, with or without its traditional British and French partners, to develop a new armed, medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft, an effort that began in the black world. The project is proceeding apace in part as a result of U.S. ambivalence about Rome's request to arm its small Predator fleet and also in order to invigorate the domestic industry here. Italy requested permission to weaponize Reaper nearly two years ago, and Washington's silence is "a case that is not very acceptable," Air Force Lt. Gen. Claudio Debertolis, Italy's secretary general of defense and national armaments director, tells Aviation Week. Debertolis says Rome is in talks with potential partners on a "black" MALE project that would field systems in 2017-18.
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