Zitat:Aermacchi Signed a Contract with the IAF for the Provision of 30 Primary Trainers SF-260EA

Aermacchi has recently signed a contract with the Italian Air Force for the purchasing of 30 primary trainers SF-260EA, in a new configuration to meet the requirements of the Italian Air Force.
As agreed in the contract Aermacchi will buy-back the 21 SF-260 AM presently owned by the IAF.
The first aircraft delivery is planned by the beginning of 2005.
The contract includes, together with the non-recurring development activities and efforts for the certification of the SF-260EA, also training activities and integrated logistic support provided directly at the base of the 71st Wing of the IAF, which will operate the aircraft in Latina (near Rome).(...)

Zitat:Italian F-16 crashes into the Adriatic sea

February 11, 2010 (by Lieven Dewitte) - An Italian AMI F-16A ADF (#MM7238) belonging to 5 Stormo at Cervia AB ditched into the Adriatic sea yesterday at 15.30h CET during a training mission.

The pilot, Maj. Luca Crovatti (37) from 23 gruppo "Veltro", successfully ejected and was rescued by a nearby fishing boat.
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Zitat:Italy is planning to buy up to eight new Gulfstream signals intelligence aircraft and build a maintenance hub for similar aircraft operated by other nations around the Mediterranean.

The plans, which were outlined in documents supplied to the Italian parliament, would reinforce Italy’s signals intelligence capability as the Mediterranean becomes a flashpoint for regional tensions with neighbors like Turkey and Egypt tussling over the future of lawless Libya.

The Italian acquisition was first mentioned in this year’s budget document, released in October, which cited the need for ‘multi-mission, multi-sensor’ Gulfstream G-550 jets and listed an outlay of 1.23 billion euros.

An illustration of the aircraft in the document resembled Israel’s ‘Shavit’ Signals Intelligence Gulfstream, while the required capabilities listed included command and control, “electronic superiority” and “electronic protection of forces.”

Zitat:Italy to invest USD2.4 billion in Tempest programme

Italy seeks to invest EUR2 billion (USD2.4 billion) in the Tempest programme under plans disclosed in the country's latest multiyear planning document (Documento Programmatico Pluriennale: DPP) for 2021–23.

The DPP, released on 5 August, revealed that the Italian Ministry of Defence (MoD) plans to allocate EUR60 million between 2021 and 2023, EUR90 million between 2024 and 2026, and EUR1.85 billion between 2027 and 2035 to fund capabilities for the Tempest programme. Specifically, EUR6 billion is identified for research and development, while acquisition and support funding are yet to be fully defined.

The DPP marks the first formal commitment of funding since Italy signed up for the Tempest project in September 2019. [...] As noted in the DPP, Tempest is envisaged as a manned/optionally manned fighter, capable of operating in highly contested and degraded environments, and will be part of a wider, networked, system-of-systems (SoS) – the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) – that will include unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), weapons and sensors systems, and other current and future aviation assets and technologies.

Zitat:Italy flies first Block 5 Reaper

The Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare Italiana: AMI) has flown its first Block 5 version of the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) MQ-9A Reaper unmanned aircraft system (UAS).

The manufacturer announced the milestone on 5 December, saying the first flight of the remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) took place some weeks earlier on 9 November.

“The new RPA was delivered to the [AMI], along with a new mobile ground control station (MGCS), as part of a mid-life modernisation (MLM) update to the [Italian] fleet of RPAs from GA-ASI. The aircraft and MGCS are part of a Foreign Military Sales,” General Atomics said.