Press & Media

Milan, 03 may 2010

A day for culture

Monday 3 May in Milan was truly an important day for rediscovering the Group's tradition.

In the same event, at the Palazzo Cusani, home of the Military District Club of Milan, two important presentations took centre stage: the presentation of the latest book in the series dedicated to the men that made Finmeccanica great- "E l'Italia prese il volo - Vita di Renato Bonifacio/And Italy took off-The life of Renato Bonifacio",  written by Guido Moltedo - and the IMAM Romeo Ro.37 aircraft from 1938, the only one of its kind in the world, for which a difficult restoration project has recently begun, in which Finmeccanica plays a significant role.

Two initiatives only apparently unrelated, but, in reality, two examples of the capacity to create development and innovation, far apart in time but linked by the fact that they both are part of the Group's history.

The Romeo Ro.37, an aircraft designed and built in Naples by the company today called Alenia Aeronautica, is truly an extraordinary unique specimen: 600 planes built, a protagonist in war and peace, thought to have disappeared 70 years ago, only to almost miraculously reappear in Kabul, where 16 were sold in 1937.  Now it will return almost as good as "new" thanks to the common efforts of the Italian Air Force and Finmeccanica.

Renato Bonifacio, the great president of Aeritalia (today Alenia Aeronautica) straddling the 1970s and 80s, as noted by Mr. Guarguaglini in his speech, was the protagonist of many important decisions in the aerospace sector - such as the opening to the international markets, European industrial cooperation in the military field and trans-Atlantic cooperation in the civil field - decisions that still today continue to have beneficial effects on the capacity for innovation and the worldwide breadth of the Finmeccanica Group.

Therefore, yet again, it was an occasion to reaffirm the importance that the Group places on the recollection of its roots and the value assigned to them. These roots become the basis for initiatives of primary importance throughout the country, capable of creating a business culture in a company like ours where social responsibility becomes increasingly more important.