Britain gave away its artillery to Ukraine, created a capability gap, and just spent a billion pounds to fill it with a gun that Ukrainian crews are already using in combat.
I read in 2024 an article on Ares Difesa which said that the Italian Army, by ordering the RCH-155, was getting on the same caisson of the Heer and the British Army, so what is the new news in this article?
Hi Emilio, you're right that Italy's interest in the RCH 155 was in the defense planning documents by 2024, with an €1.8 billion program announced and an initial €202 million allocation. But Italy's procurement is a long way from settled. As of November 2025, Leonardo unveiled a domestic competitor, the RH1-155/52 HITFIRE on a Freccia Evo chassis, which means there's now an actual competition running for what the Italian Army buys. The article was specifically about the UK's formal £1 billion contract with named delivery timelines, named manufacturers, and named industrial sites, which is a different thing than a line item in a defense planning document. Italy's in the conversation. The UK signed the paperwork. Those are two different places in the acquisition process. Thanks for reading Ares Difesa, though. It's a genuinely good source and most of my audience hasn't heard of it.
Hmm, I stand corrected. Italy's program is further along than I thought. Phase 1 had a formal ministerial decree behind it in 2024, Phase 2 is in parliamentary review, and in December 2025 Leonardo signed a Letter of Intent with KNDS to co-develop using the RCH 155 gun module, which pretty much ended the HITFIRE as a separate competitor.
I suppose I am merely an idealistic old woman here, but wouldn't it be lovely if instead of spending trillions globally to constantly and repeatedly attempt to destroy every structure and every living thing on the planet, we instead invested in a civilized, educated, cooperative, housed, healthy, environmentally protected world where people didn't live in constant fear and pain.
We spend so much on war and destruction and punishment and killing when we could be more appropriately utilizing our resources to enable a pleasant, safe, educated, nice place to spend our time while here on earth. We are aware of our weaknesses and limitations, yet refuse to acknowledge them. We could do better, but refuse to consider taking the necessary steps to see it through. We have practically destroyed a unique, gorgeous one of a kind world that provides everything we need, yet we take more from the planet than we need and treat mother earth as a colossal toilet. Our government demands more human be made, merely to maintain profits.
Why not stop letting the very worst of MANkind make all the rules and start reconsidering exactly what it is that we the people really want for our very short time here.
All I could think of while reading this was the MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX, EISENHOWER'S WARNINGS, the massive waste of our precious resources, and the greed of violent, mentally ill men.
Monoculture risk or don't put all your eggs in the same basket. Let's be cautious. Lol
Uh?
I read in 2024 an article on Ares Difesa which said that the Italian Army, by ordering the RCH-155, was getting on the same caisson of the Heer and the British Army, so what is the new news in this article?
https://aresdifesa.it/maggiore-potenza-di-fuoco-per-lesercito-italiano/
Hi Emilio, you're right that Italy's interest in the RCH 155 was in the defense planning documents by 2024, with an €1.8 billion program announced and an initial €202 million allocation. But Italy's procurement is a long way from settled. As of November 2025, Leonardo unveiled a domestic competitor, the RH1-155/52 HITFIRE on a Freccia Evo chassis, which means there's now an actual competition running for what the Italian Army buys. The article was specifically about the UK's formal £1 billion contract with named delivery timelines, named manufacturers, and named industrial sites, which is a different thing than a line item in a defense planning document. Italy's in the conversation. The UK signed the paperwork. Those are two different places in the acquisition process. Thanks for reading Ares Difesa, though. It's a genuinely good source and most of my audience hasn't heard of it.
Uh, not really...
https://aresdifesa.it/prosegue-il-programma-rch-155-per-l-esercito-italiano/
BTW, I am soooorry for the puns, not really.
Hmm, I stand corrected. Italy's program is further along than I thought. Phase 1 had a formal ministerial decree behind it in 2024, Phase 2 is in parliamentary review, and in December 2025 Leonardo signed a Letter of Intent with KNDS to co-develop using the RCH 155 gun module, which pretty much ended the HITFIRE as a separate competitor.
I suppose I am merely an idealistic old woman here, but wouldn't it be lovely if instead of spending trillions globally to constantly and repeatedly attempt to destroy every structure and every living thing on the planet, we instead invested in a civilized, educated, cooperative, housed, healthy, environmentally protected world where people didn't live in constant fear and pain.
We spend so much on war and destruction and punishment and killing when we could be more appropriately utilizing our resources to enable a pleasant, safe, educated, nice place to spend our time while here on earth. We are aware of our weaknesses and limitations, yet refuse to acknowledge them. We could do better, but refuse to consider taking the necessary steps to see it through. We have practically destroyed a unique, gorgeous one of a kind world that provides everything we need, yet we take more from the planet than we need and treat mother earth as a colossal toilet. Our government demands more human be made, merely to maintain profits.
Why not stop letting the very worst of MANkind make all the rules and start reconsidering exactly what it is that we the people really want for our very short time here.
All I could think of while reading this was the MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX, EISENHOWER'S WARNINGS, the massive waste of our precious resources, and the greed of violent, mentally ill men.