First Aeronautica Militare 6º Stormo F-35A noted

The so-called spearhead of the Aeronautica Militare (ItAF, Italian Air Force) is represented by two assets: the Lockheed Martin F-35A/B Lightning II and the Eurofighter F-2000A/B. With the last Eurofighter F-2000 delivered already, the build-up of the Lockheed Martin F-35A/B fleet is continuing. Besides the southern air base Amendola (Foggia) with its 13° Gruppo (Squadron) of the 32° Stormo (Wing), Ghedi about 15 kilometres from Brescia, in northern Italy will be the second F-35 base. The build-up plan is well under way with important new infrastructure.

Ghedi air base is now home to the 6º Stormo (Wing) of the Italian Air Force with three Stormi (Squadrons) with the 102º Gruppo, 154º Gruppo, and 155º Gruppo equipped with the Panavia Tornado IDS/ECR.

Now the first Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II MM7366/ code 6-01(build number AL-16) if full livery and with toned down 6º Stormo (Wing) ‘Diavoli Rossi’ markings was noted at Final Assembly and Check Out (FACO) facility at Cameri (NO). The Italian FACO is owned by the Italian Ministry of Defense and is operated by Leonardo in conjunction with Lockheed Martin for the assembly of the Conventional Take-off/Landing F-35A and F-35B aircraft variants and F-35A wing production.