COMPANY SURVEY SERIES II: FINMECCANICA AMID INTERNATIONAL MARKET AND STATE CONTROL: A SURVEY OF ITALIAN DEFENCE INDUSTRY

Finmeccanica is the eighth largest arms manufacturer on a world scale. The article explains and discusses its recent evolution. In particular, we discuss the broader privatisation programme implemented by the government as a response to the 1992 financial crisis. Finally, we will present our conclusions on how the interplay of domestic factors and external pressures accounts for Finmeccanica’s peculiar trends. This result, especially Finmeccanica’s performance, is the consequence of a deep transformation occurred in the past 10–15 years in both the industrial base and national defence policy. The two processes appear to be somehow interrelated.