TheItalian Air Force (Italian:Aeronautica Militare;AM,lit. 'military aeronautics') is theair force of theItalian Republic. The Italian Air Force was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923 byKing Victor Emmanuel III as theRegia Aeronautica ("Royal Air Force"). AfterWorld War II, when Italy became arepublic following a referendum, theRegia Aeronautica was given its current name. Since its formation, the service has held a prominent role in modernItalian military history. The acrobatic display team is theFrecce Tricolori.
From 1923 until the end ofWW2 the Italian Air Force was calledRegia Aeronautica. Thecockade of Italy is one of the symbols of the Italian Air Force, and is widely used on all Italian stateaircraft, not only military.[1]
Italy was among the earliest adopters of military aviation. Its air arm dates back to 1884, when theItalian Royal Army (Regio Esercito) was authorised to acquire its own air component. The Air Service (Corpo Aeronautico Militare) operated balloons based near Rome.
In 1911, reconnaissance and bombing sorties during theItalo-Turkish War by theServizio Aeronautico represented the first use of heavier-than-air aircraft in armed conflict.
On 28 March 1923, the Italian Air Force was founded as an independent service byKing Vittorio Emanuele III of theKingdom of Italy. This air force was known as theRegia Aeronautica (Royal Air Force). During the 1930s, the fledglingRegia Aeronautica was involved in its first military operations, first inEthiopia in 1935, and later in theSpanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939. After a period of neutrality, Italy entered World War II on 10 June 1940 alongside Germany. TheRegia Aeronautica could deploy more than 3,000 aircraft, although fewer than 60% were serviceable. It fought from the icy steppes of Russia to the sands of the North African desert, losing men and machines.
After thearmistice of 8 September 1943, Italy was divided into two sides, and the same fate befell theRegia Aeronautica. The Air Force was split into theItalian Co-Belligerent Air Force in the south aligned with the Allies, and the pro-AxisAeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana in the north until the end of the war. On 8 May 1945, the hostilities ended, beginning the rebirth of military aviation in Italy.
A popular vote by the people resulted in the end of theKingdom of Italy and the establishment of theItalian Republic on 18 June 1946. Hence theRegia Aeronautica lost its "Royal" designation, and it became theAeronautica Militare, a name that it has continued to hold ever since.
ThePeace Treaty of Paris of 1947 placed severe restrictions on all of the Italian armed forces, but the establishment ofNATO in 1949 with Italy as a founding member brought about the necessity for the modernization of all of the Italian armed forces, including the Italian Air Force. American military aid sent by the Mutual Defense Assistance Program brought about the introduction of American-madeP-47 Thunderbolt andP-51 Mustang propeller-drivenfighter planes. In 1952, the Italian Air Force was granted jet fighters for the first time, AmericanF-84G Thunderjets andF-86D Sabres, together with over 200 licence-built Britishde Havilland Vampires; these were followed byRepublic F-84F Thunderstreak fighters andC-119 Flying Boxcartransport planes from the United States. The reborn Italian aviation industry also began to develop and produce a few indigenous aircraft designs of its own, such as theFiat G.91, theAermacchi MB-326, thePiaggio Aero P.166 and the line of Agusta-Bell helicopters.
The first supersonicfighters added to the Italian Air Force were American-designedF-104 Starfighters that were produced by a group of several European aircraft companies, includingMesserschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm,Dornier,Fiat,Fokker andSABCA. During the 1970s, the Air Force acquired the ItalianAeritalia G222 and the modern AmericanC-130 Hercules tactical transport planes, capable of carrying cargo orparatroopers. It also received the newAeritalia F-104S Starfighter fighters for ground attack and air-defence purposes.
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A push to expand the Italian aircraft industry led Italy into the huge trilateral project that developed thePanavia Tornado fighter-bomber and air-defence fighters along withWest Germany and the United Kingdom. Tornado fighters were still in service with all three nations, plus a few more, as of 2019. Italian companies worked with theEmbraer Company of Brazil in a smaller project to develop and produce theAMX International AMX aircraft.
In 1990, after theIraqi invasion ofKuwait, Italy joined the coalition forces, and for the first time in 45 years Italian pilots and aircraft were assigned to combat operations. Needing to replace the obsolete F-104 Starfighters, Italy joined with Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom in the development of theEurofighter Typhoon, which was expected to enter the Italian Air Force in 2000. In 1994, with the Typhoon still some years from introduction to service, 24Panavia Tornado Air Defense Variant (ADV) interceptors were leased from the United Kingdom for a period of 10 years. The ADV Tornados served as fighter-interceptors to supplement and then to replace the old F-104 Starfighters. However, delays in the production of the Typhoon forced the Italians to seek a supplement, and then replacement, for the leased Tornado ADVs.
With the UK lease due to expire in 2004, the Italian government wished to avoid a costly lease extension and instead opted to lease 34F-16 Fighting Falcon multi-role fighter planes on multi-year leases from the US. The last of these fighters was returned to the United States in May 2012, following the Italian Air Force's acquisition of a sufficient number of Typhoons over a period of several years. The Typhoons are intended to replace all of the F-104, Tornado ADV and F-16 aircraft. The last of the Italian F-104s was withdrawn from service in 2004.
Armed conflicts inSomalia,Mozambique and the nearbyBalkans led to the Italian Air Force becoming a participant in multinational air forces,such as that of NATO over the formerYugoslavia, just a few minutes flying time east of the Italian peninsula. The commanders of the Italian Air Force soon saw the need to improve the Italian air defences.
The capability of the Italian Air Force as a transportation unit has been improved with the acquisition of 22 American C-130J tactical transports and 12 Alenia C-27J Spartans, which have replaced all of the G222s. In 2003, the Italian Air Force extended its capabilities to small-scale land warfare by small special-forces units. This was accomplished by forming the17º Stormo Incursori ("17th Special Operations Wing"), also known as RIAM (Reparto Incursori Aeronautica Militare, "Air Force Raiders Group"), a unit that is primarily responsible for raids on land-based aeronautical compounds,forward air control missions andcombat search and rescue operations.[2]
As of 2014, the Italian Air Force[3] operates a total active fleet of 557 aerial vehicles,[4] including 209 manned and 12unmanned combat aircraft, with eight moreEurofighter Typhoon on order and 75 moreF-35s planned.[5][6][7][8][9]
| NATO code | OF-10 | OF-9 | OF-8 | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | ||||||||||||||
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| Generale | Generale di squadra aerea | Generale di divisione aerea | Generale di brigata aerea | Colonnello | Tenente colonnello | Maggiore | Primo capitano | Capitano | Tenente | Sottotenente | ||||||||||||||
| NATO code | OR-9 | OR-8 | OR-7 | OR-6 | OR-5 | OR-4 | OR-3 | OR-2 | OR-1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Italian Air Force[10][11] |  |  |  |
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| Primo luogotenente | Luogotenente | Primo maresciallo | Sergente maggiore aiutante | Sergente maggiore capo | Sergente maggiore | Sergente | Primo aviere | Aviere scelto | Aviere | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
