{"id":17457,"date":"2025-04-17T16:48:59","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T15:48:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/?p=17457"},"modified":"2025-04-17T17:09:46","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T16:09:46","slug":"litalia-decolla-f-35-formazione-piloti-flotta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/litalia-takes-off-f-35-pilot-training-fleet\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy takes off with F-35s: pilot training and expanding fleet"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the European defense landscape, Italy is increasingly determined to become a leading player. Not only as a buyer of advanced technologies, but as a strategic hub for training and production<\/strong>The new objective of the Italian Government is ambitious: to create a National F-35 Pilot Training Center<\/strong>, confirming the country's role as the linchpin of the Atlantic defense ecosystem and advancing the Air Force's position among the most modern in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Italy
Italy takes off with F-35s: pilot training and expanding fleet \u2013 brigatafolgore.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A symbolic announcement, in a symbolic place<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The project was solemnly relaunched on March 28, during the celebrations for the 102nd anniversary of the Air Force, held at the military airport "Mario de Bernardi" in Pratica di Mare. On that occasion, the Defense Minister Guido Crosetto has publicly confirmed Italy's willingness to host a training center for F-35 pilots<\/strong>, the only one of its kind outside the United States. \u201cI hope,\u201d he said, \u201cthat soon, alongside Decimomannu, there will also be training for F-35 pilots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reference is to the International Flight Training School (IFTS) of Decimomannu<\/strong>, in Sardinia, the result of collaboration between the Air Force and Leonardo. This facility will continue to be dedicated to advanced training on 4th and 5th generation jets, but the new hub dedicated exclusively to the F-35s could be built elsewhere, still in Southern Italy. One hypothesis that is circulating persistently is that of a base in Puglia or Campania, areas already equipped with important military infrastructures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Italy<\/picture>
Italy takes off with F-35s: pilot training and expanding fleet \u2013 brigatafolgore.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A far-sighted strategy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The decision to create a training hub for the F-35 is not an isolated initiative, but is part of a broad and long-term strategy, as outlined in the Multi-Year Defense Programming Document for the three-year period 2024-2026. The plan includes increasing the Italian F-35 fleet from 90 to 115 aircraft, with the purchase of 25 new units and an investment of 7 billion euros<\/strong>. An important commitment, which demonstrates Italy's desire to strengthen its military and industrial potential in the combat aviation sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of today, Italy is the first country in the world \u2013 after the United States \u2013 to have its own F-35 production line<\/strong>, at the FACO (Final Assembly and Check-Out) plant in Cameri<\/strong>, in Piedmont. Not only that: it will also be the only country to host a training center for the program's international pilots. "The United States - Crosetto explained in an interview with The Press<\/em> \u2013 they are no longer able to cover their training needs on their own, and so they rely on us. This is a sign that large investments, if done well, return multiplied in the form of industrial, technological and strategic value\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Italy
Italy takes off with F-35s: pilot training and expanding fleet \u2013 brigatafolgore.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A fleet for the future<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The F-35 Lightning II is a fifth-generation multirole fighter, designed to operate in high-threat environments. Equipped with stealth characteristics and net-centric capabilities, it is able to operate in synergy with other defense systems, collect data in real time and share them within a joint operational network. Precisely for these capabilities, it has become the cornerstone of air force modernization strategies in many NATO countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking ahead, the Italian Air Force aims to operate \u2013 by 2040 \u2013 a combined fleet of over 180 combat aircraft. F-35 and Eurofighter<\/strong> updated, to which will be added the sixth-generation fighter GCAP (Global Combat Air Programme)<\/strong>, currently under development with the United Kingdom and Japan. The latter project aims to ensure Italy full technological autonomy in the air defense sector for future generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Italy<\/picture>
Italy takes off with F-35s: pilot training and expanding fleet \u2013 brigatafolgore.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An industrial and diplomatic opportunity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hosting an international training hub not only has operational value, but also represents a major economic and geopolitical opportunity. Welcoming pilots and technical personnel from other NATO countries and non-European partners means developing a stable supply chain made up of services, infrastructures, technologies and know-how<\/strong>. In other words, it means consolidating a regional leadership role in a sector with very high added value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, strengthening cooperation with the United States \u2013 just at a time when Washington is looking carefully at the Asia-Pacific and asking for greater operational autonomy from its European allies \u2013 is a diplomatic move that strengthens Italy's credibility within the Atlantic Alliance<\/strong>. In times of growing tensions, such as the current ones, security becomes a common good to be built together. And Italy seems intent on doing its part, with vision and pragmatism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The birth of a training center for F-35 pilots in Italy is not just news for insiders, but a strong signal of the direction that our country wants to take in terms of defense, innovation and international role. A project that combines industrial capacity, strategic vision and solid alliances. With an expanding fleet, cutting-edge infrastructure and a clear orientation towards technological autonomy, Italy is preparing to play a leading role in the skies of the future.<\/p>\n\n

\n

\n Source:<\/strong>\n www.ilsole24ore.com\/art\/italia-polo-addestrativo-i-piloti-f-35-progetto-difesa-espansione-AH9QT6J<\/a>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the European defense landscape, Italy is increasingly determined to become a leading player. Not only as a buyer of advanced technologies, but as a strategic hub for training and production. The new goal of the Italian government is ambitious: to create a national center for the training of F-35 pilots, confirming the role [\u2026]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[867,80,941,973],"sgg_keywords":[],"class_list":["post-17457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nazionali","tag-aeronauticamilitare","tag-difesa","tag-f35","tag-strategiamilitare"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17457"},{"taxonomy":"sgg_keywords","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigatafolgore.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sgg_keywords?post=17457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}