Asia Defense | Security | Southeast Asia

Italy’s Indo-Pacific Strategy Turns Toward Defense Contracts

Italy is making an unexpectedly assertive return to Southeast Asia – not through trade or development aid, but through defense diplomacy. 

The Giuseppe Garibaldi aircraft carrier anchored in Naples, Oct. 25, 2024. The carrier is set to be transferred to the Indonesian navy by the end of 2026.

When Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto attended this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, the visit attracted little attention in Europe. Yet Rome’s presence at Asia’s premier security forum was only one element of a broader pattern that has emerged over the past year. From expanding defense cooperation with Malaysia to Parliament’s approval of the transfer of the decommissioned aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi to Indonesia, Italy has quietly intensified its engagement with Southeast Asia through military and industrial partnerships rather than traditional diplomacy.

The trend reflects both changing regional dynamics and Italy’s own comparative advantages. As strategic competition intensifies across the Indo-Pacific, Southeast Asian countries are investing heavily in naval modernization, maritime surveillance, and defense industrial cooperation. While major powers dominate the region’s security architecture, middle powers have found opportunities by offering technology, training, and industrial partnerships instead of formal security guarantees. Italy appears to be embracing precisely this model.

Rather than competing militarily with larger actors, Rome has leveraged the strengths of its defense industry. Companies such as Leonardo and Fincantieri have become central to Italy’s regional presence, offering advanced naval platforms, aerospace technologies, and long-term industrial cooperation. At Malaysia’s DSA & NATSEC Asia exhibition earlier this year, for example, Fincantieri promoted its Landing Platform Dock proposal for the Royal Malaysian Navy alongside other naval solutions tailored to Kuala Lumpur’s modernization plans. Such initiatives illustrate that Italian engagement increasingly extends beyond arms exports to encompass technology transfer, industrial collaboration, and enduring defense partnerships.

This convergence of industrial and diplomatic objectives is telling. Italy’s defense diplomacy increasingly serves as an enabling framework for its defense industry, while commercial partnerships reinforce Rome’s political relationships throughout Southeast Asia. The result is a mutually reinforcing strategy in which ministerial visits, naval cooperation agreements, military exchanges, and industrial proposals advance broader foreign policy objectives.

Yet the growing coherence of Italy’s approach also exposes its limitations. Unlike France, which maintains permanent military........

© The Diplomat