Italy eyes US tech for souping up dumb missiles into drone interceptors

- Italy's Air Force wants to bolt BAE's APKWS II laser-guidance kits onto 5,031 dumb rockets and turn them into drone killers — and frankly, Victory is mine! for spotting the engineering elegance here. You take a sub-€100K unguided Hydra, slot a mid-body section with four fold-out wings each packing a laser seeker between warhead and motor, and suddenly your Eurofighter is swatting Shahed-class threats without burning a ten-times-pricier AMRAAM. The RAF already fielded the same kit on their Typhoons in two months flat. Course of action — action. The full FMS package — launchers, warheads, motors, support — clocks $364 million, which in PoD-seal terms is a rounding error for homeland defense against cheap autonomous systems. No contract signed yet, but the relay window is open. Autonomous systems salute poorly, and Italy intends to prove it.