Anti-Islamic State Operations Helped Clinch Kuwaiti Eurofighter Deal

Italy’s close cooperation with Kuwait as part of the coalition against the Islamic State terrorist group may have played a part in the Emirate placing an order for 28 Eurofighter Typhoon Aircraft.

The Inter-governmental agreement for the eight billion Euro deal was signed during the visit of the Prime Minister of Kuwait, Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah to Rome on Thursday, Italian publication Analisidifesa reported.

Excellent bilateral relations between the Kuwaiti and Italian militaries developed after the Iraq war of 2003 when Kuwait became the logistics center of the Italian contingent in Assyria. More recently, with the deployment in Kuwait of 4 Italian Tornado, 2 Predator UAVs and a B- 767A tanker as part of the coalition against the Islamic State, these relations appear to have become stronger.

Analisidifesa said that the Italian air force has developed close relations with the air force of the emirate which has sent its pilots to train in Italy.

According to some analysts, the share of the order of 28 Typhoon attributed to Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi would be 1.5 to 2 billion Euros, while the value of the order would be "disassembled" in a 50% for aircraft and also for training, and logistics support.

Italian companies which would be involved in the Kuwait-Italy Eurofighter deal include: Selex ES, Electronics, MBDA, Aerial, Vitrociset and some small and medium-sized Italian companies.