{"id":41299,"date":"2021-10-07T16:29:18","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T16:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/10\/07\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:13:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:13:55","slug":"italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2021\/10\/07\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy drops drone program, instead buying Piaggio aircraft"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ROME \u2014 Italy announced it will purchase six new Piaggio Aerospace aircraft to help relaunch the Italian firm, and indicated the government is dropping long-held plans to buy drones from the company, ending the ill-fated story of the Hammerhead UAV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Italian Defence Ministry said it would spend \u20ac171 million (U.S. $198 million) to buy six P.180 Avanti Evo turboprop plane as well as a flight simulator and engine maintenance work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The aircraft, which add to the ministry\u2019s existing fleet of P.180s, will likely be used for transport, reconnaissance and special missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The purchase comes at a useful time for the firm, putting it on a sounder financial footing as it comes up for sale following a three-year spell in receivership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFulfilling the Government\u2019s commitment to supporting Piaggio Aerospace\u2019s turnaround, this remarkable order further enhances the value of the Company, which is now close to finding a new owner,\u201d said Piaggio Aerospace\u2019s extraordinary commissioner, Vincenzo Nicastro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The contract means Rome has made good on its commitment to hand over about \u20ac700 million in deals to get the firm back on its feet. A previous work order was worth \u20ac540 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Previous contracts included engine maintenance work on the Army\u2019s CH-47 and A129 Mangusta helicopters as well as upgrades to operational P.180 aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, a contract is missing \u2014 one the government said in 2019 it would award to Piaggio Aerospace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the time, Italy promised to purchase four of the firm\u2019s P1.HH drones \u2014 the unmanned version of the P.180 planned by Piaggio and nicknamed the Hammerhead. The drone was originally on the United Arab Emirates\u2019 shopping list after Piaggio was taken over in 2014 by Mubadala Development Company, an Abu Dhabi-based strategic investment firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"852\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/636003792701665507-p1hh-in-volo-parete23jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-83138\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/636003792701665507-p1hh-in-volo-parete23jpg.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/636003792701665507-p1hh-in-volo-parete23jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/636003792701665507-p1hh-in-volo-parete23jpg.jpg?resize=768,511 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/636003792701665507-p1hh-in-volo-parete23jpg.jpg?resize=1024,682 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The UAE wanted to buy the Hammerhead, and wanted Italy to buy a version. But when Italy dragged its heels on the purchase, the UAE walked away, canceling its orders and placing the firm in receivership in 2018, putting hundreds of jobs at Piaggio in jeopardy and leaving the firm with nearly completed P1.HH drones on its hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hence, the decision by Italy to buy the drones in 2019, despite the Italian Air Force chief telling parliament he did not want them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But three years on, it appears the government has decided it can avoid buying the drones \u2015 effectively letting the program die \u2015 if it simply switches to buying manned aircraft from the firm to make up its spending promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe decision on drones will now be left to future investors,\u201d an industry source told Defense News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With an Italian-Swedish group of investors reportedly close to buying the firm with a view to building electric propulsion aircraft, military drones may not be high on the agenda, and the fate of Hammerhead may be sealed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>However, a contract is missing \u2014 one the government said in 2019 it would award to Piaggio Aerospace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":83137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":27,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"9":{"categories":["unmanned","industry","daily-brief","newsletters","home"],"primary_category":"unmanned"}}},"categories":[7,160,46,11,12,36,27,167],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3345],"class_list":["post-41299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-daily-news-roundup","category-europe","category-global","category-industry","category-newsletters","category-unmanned","category-unmanned-systems"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"C32MZ3TCS5H4DK4X4TAU6LVCJI","arc_canonical_url":"\/unmanned\/2021\/10\/07\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Italy drops drone program, instead buying Piaggio aircraft - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"However, a contract is missing \u2014 one the government said in 2019 it would award to Piaggio Aerospace.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2021\/10\/07\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Italy drops drone program, instead buying Piaggio aircraft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"However, a contract is missing \u2014 one the government said in 2019 it would award to Piaggio Aerospace.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2021\/10\/07\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-07T16:29:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T23:13:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tom Kington\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tom Kington\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/unmanned\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/07\\\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/unmanned\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/07\\\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Italy drops drone program, instead buying Piaggio aircraft\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2021-10-07T16:29:18+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T23:13:55+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/unmanned\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/07\\\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 466,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/unmanned\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/07\\\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Avanti_EVO_4.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Air Warfare\",\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Europe\",\n\t                \"Global\",\n\t                \"Industry\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\",\n\t                \"Unmanned\",\n\t                \"Unmanned Systems\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/unmanned\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/07\\\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/unmanned\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/07\\\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/unmanned\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/07\\\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Italy drops drone program, instead buying Piaggio aircraft - Defense News\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/unmanned\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/07\\\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/unmanned\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/07\\\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Avanti_EVO_4.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2021-10-07T16:29:18+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T23:13:55+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"However, a contract is missing \u2014 one the government said in 2019 it would award to Piaggio Aerospace.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/unmanned\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/07\\\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/unmanned\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/07\\\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/unmanned\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/07\\\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Avanti_EVO_4.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Avanti_EVO_4.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/unmanned\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/07\\\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Unmanned\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/unmanned\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"unmanned\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Italy drops drone program, instead buying Piaggio aircraft\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Defense News\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Italy drops drone program, instead buying Piaggio aircraft - Defense News","description":"However, a contract is missing \u2014 one the government said in 2019 it would award to Piaggio Aerospace.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2021\/10\/07\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Italy drops drone program, instead buying Piaggio aircraft","og_description":"However, a contract is missing \u2014 one the government said in 2019 it would award to Piaggio Aerospace.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2021\/10\/07\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\/","og_site_name":"Defense News","article_published_time":"2021-10-07T16:29:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-07T23:13:55+00:00","author":"Tom Kington","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tom Kington","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2021\/10\/07\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2021\/10\/07\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Italy drops drone program, instead buying Piaggio aircraft","datePublished":"2021-10-07T16:29:18+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T23:13:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2021\/10\/07\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\/"},"wordCount":466,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2021\/10\/07\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Avanti_EVO_4.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Air Warfare","Daily News Roundup","Europe","Global","Industry","Newsletters","Unmanned","Unmanned Systems"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2021\/10\/07\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2021\/10\/07\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2021\/10\/07\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\/","name":"Italy drops drone program, instead buying Piaggio aircraft - Defense News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2021\/10\/07\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2021\/10\/07\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Avanti_EVO_4.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2021-10-07T16:29:18+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T23:13:55+00:00","description":"However, a contract is missing \u2014 one the government said in 2019 it would award to Piaggio Aerospace.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2021\/10\/07\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2021\/10\/07\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2021\/10\/07\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Avanti_EVO_4.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Avanti_EVO_4.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2021\/10\/07\/italy-drops-drone-program-instead-buying-piaggio-aircraft\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Unmanned","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/","ad_zone":"unmanned"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Italy drops drone program, instead buying Piaggio aircraft"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","name":"Defense News","description":"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization","name":"Defense News","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","caption":"Defense News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Avanti_EVO_4.jpg.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Defense News","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41299"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41307,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41299\/revisions\/41307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41299"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=41299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}