Strange Bedfellows in the World of Submarines

Everybody wants submarines, and lots of people want to build them. But here is an online story that surprises me. It seems the Italians and Russians are working on a next-generation submarine project together. The S-1000, a thousand-ton diesel, was originally presented in 2006, but no orders were forthcoming. That doesn't stop the project though--the unlikely partners are upgrading their plans. They see the Middle East and Southeast Asia as their target markets.
Here is a Russian news story about the earlier model.
And here is what it may look like:

Last time I checked, Italy was a member of NATO, and Russia was not. It's enough to make a cold warrior's gyro topple. I bet the U.S. won't be sending the Italians any recent technology to include in the project.

My prize-winning novel, "Soldier of the Horse", is available from Amazon, here.
My next project, set in a Cold War submarine, will be out in September 2014.