Since its won the elections, the Meloni government has held a series of high-level bilateral meetings in just a few months, from Algeria to Ukraine, from the Middle East to India, in addition to the usual presence in multilateral meetings such as NATO, EU, G7 and G20. The government has showed strong focus on international politics, with more attention to defence matters than before. The most recent developments come from the Indo-Pacific region, where Italy showed clear political commitment to the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) along with Japan and the United Kingdom. Shortly after, the Ministry of Defence kicked off the 'GCAP Acceleration Initiative', opening to over 40 explorative technology studies within the business and academic worlds with the aim of consolidating the Italian network of stakeholders that will contribute to the programme. The MoD wants to scout the best design solutions in the fields of propulsion systems, optical and laser systems, IR sensors, materials and metamaterials for low observability, navigation systems, artificial intelligence (AI), cyber security, and electronic devices. The initiative is promoted in collaboration with the Federation of Italian Companies for Aerospace, Defence and Security (AIAD), Leonardo, Avio Aero, Elettronica, MBDA Italia and Cefriel. Universities, research centres, companies and start-ups will be involved to share ideas, skills, and frontier technologies that can be exploited in the technological maturation process of GCAP. In April, Marina Militare's frigate Francesco Morosini (Thaon di Revel-class Multipurpose Offshore Patrol Vessel, PPA) left for a five-month deployment in the Indo-Pacific theatre. The vessel will visit the ports of Yokosuka, in Japan (14-18 June), and Pusan, in South Korea (21-24 June), and will carry out naval diplomacy activities in 15 ports in 14 South-East Asian countries.
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