Italian Air Force Update and Topic

[SolarisKenzo]

The Italian Air Force will retire the A11- AMX next month.

AMXs were put in "very limited operational status" in 2020, then most of the planes were grounded in 2022.
3 planes were kept in flying condition for the 2023 air force anniversary.
Now the Air Force will hold a farewell ceremony leaving Brazil the only operator of the plane.

 

[SolarisKenzo]

Today I attended the phase-out ceremony of the AMX in Istrana Air Base.
Last flight after 35 years of service.
Farewell "topone".

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

Today I attended the phase-out ceremony of the AMX in Istrana Air Base.
Last flight after 35 years of service.
Farewell "topone".

Thanks for sharing.
Will the AMX be replaced by the M345 or M346?
Some more pictures and details.

Italian Air Force says Goodbye to the AMX

Italian Air Force says Goodbye to the AMX After 35 years of intense operational activity, the Aeronautica Militare (ItAF, Italian Air Force) says goodbye to the AMX on Friday 5 Apr...

www.scramble.nl

 

[SolarisKenzo]

Thanks for sharing.
Will the AMX be replaced by the M345 or M346?
Some more pictures and details.

Italian Air Force says Goodbye to the AMX

Italian Air Force says Goodbye to the AMX After 35 years of intense operational activity, the Aeronautica Militare (ItAF, Italian Air Force) says goodbye to the AMX on Friday 5 Apr...

www.scramble.nl

Hello,
the AMX will not be replaced.
Its role will be partially fulfilled by the F-35 (and possibly the number of JSFs will be increased from 90 to the original 131 planes).
Istrana AB, the Air Base that hosted AMX since 1988/1989, is now an Air Defence Operations base and hosts Eurofighter Typhoon, guaranteeing the defence of the air space of Slovenia and northern Italy.

The Air Force has basically shown total disinterest in any aircraft other than the F-35 or Eurofighter, the M-346 being the only exception (but only as a trainer for the ITFS pilots school).

 

[swerve]

Any thought of the Brazilians taking some for spares?

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

Any thought of the Brazilians taking some for spares?

This should be a good plan.

In 2005, the Italian Air Force launched an upgrade programme (ACOL Aggionamento Capacità Operative e Logistiche – Operational and Logistical Capability Upgrade) for 55 of its AMXs, adding a new laser INS, new cockpit displays and allowing the aircraft to drop Joint Direct Attack Munition guided bombs. And starting from August 2007, Embraer began a major midlife upgrade programme and modernisation of 53 Brazilian Air Force AMX A-1s, focusing on avionics systems and new armament additions.

And later 43 Brazilian AMX aircrafts were modernized to A-1M and delivered between 2013 and 2017. There were plans to replace the AMXs after 2032 by more Saab Gripens, but it is indeed cheaper to keep the AMX flying after that year with added Italian AMXs. I dont think Brazil does need the planned 100 Gripens, a 50/50 Gripen/AMX fleet should be effective enough.

 

[SolarisKenzo]

IF Brazil bought parts, they did in the past years.
I suppose they probably did buy some parts, but there are no official records.

As of today:

Parts are not going to Brazil because ITAF progressively used their 55 AMX ACOLs to maintain in service the fleet.
All the planes were cannibalized through the years and currently there are only 25-30 fuselages left, completely deprived of all systems, engines and parts.

All the parts left will be sent to Air Base "Piacenza" in San Damiano and stored to be used for the flying museum iniative.

The photo is mine.

 

[SolarisKenzo]

Aw249 during testing in Italy.

 

[SolarisKenzo]

Some updates:
1. KC-46 PROGRAM STOPPED
The KC-46 program, that aimed to buy 6 Pegasus to replace the current fleet of KC-767 has been officially stopped.
No official explanation from the Air Force, but some sources I could talk too said the current fleet of tankers is in (unexpected?) good condition and the money where needed elsewhere.

Italian Air Force Suspends 1.2 Billion Euro KC-46 Program

The service communicated last week to the Ministry of Defense the decision to halt the replacement of the current KC-767 tanker fleet with the new KC-46

theaviationist.com

2. NEW EUROFIGHTERS
The Italian Parliament is set to approve a new order for 24 Eurofighter Typhoons.
This was to be expected but we had no hints yet.
All the partners in the program (apart from the UK) reached an agreement to buy new EFAs and with this order the EU nations are set to buy 127 new planes.

RID Rivista Italiana Difesa - Via all'acquisizione di 24 nuovi Eurofighter TYPHOON per l’Aeronautica Militare

Via all'acquisizione di 24 nuovi Eurofighter TYPHOON per l’Aeronautica Militare

www.rid.it

 

[SolarisKenzo]

"The Government of Italy has requested to buy six (6) Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) MQ-9 Block 5 Aircraft; three (3) Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) MQ-9 Mobile Ground Control Stations (MGCS); twelve (12) AN/DAS-4 Multi-spectral Target Systems; nine (9) LYNX AN/APY-8 Block 20A Synthetic Aperture Radars with Maritime Wide Area Surveillance (MWAS) capability; and one (1) Embedded Global Positioning & Inertial Navigation System (EGI)."

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1824325425939497065

 

[SolarisKenzo]

The Italian Air Force selected the M-346A (T-346A in NATO designation) as the new jet for the Frecce Tricolori from 2028.
The ITAF decided to drop the original pick (M-345) after major issues with aerobatics-compatibility were found and could not be solved on the plane.

New M-346 Jet For The Frecce Tricolori Display Team Breaks Cover

After more than 40 years, the Frecce Tricolori will replace their aging MB-339s with the M-346 Advanced Jet Trainer, reverting the decision to equip the

theaviationist.com

 

[SolarisKenzo]

Defence Ministry ordered in july the first serial-production lot of the AH-249 Attack Helicopter.
The package includes:
- 12 + 7 AH-249 Helicopters (already built) (19 total)
- Simulation platforms and ground personnel training
- 5 years all-inclusive support

For a total of 645 milion euros and 60 million extra budget for unexpected expenses.

The program is for 48 Helicopters total.

Leonardo announced that the first 7 helicopters already built are ready to receive minor updates to reach the final configuration before the delivery.