New Italian Flight Training School at Sardinia
On 16 December 2020, during an official ceremony at Decimomannu air base (Sardinia, Italy), the first stone was laid for the new International Flight Training School (IFTS).
The Aeronautica Militare and Leonardo are close to opening a new Flight Training School in the Mediterranean capable of training pilots from all over the world for the most advanced combat aircraft thanks to skilled personnel and the use of the most modern technology currently on the market.
With the building of the new IFTS campus headquartered at Decimomannu, a true flight training academy or maybe we can call it secretly the Italian “Top Gun”, will be established. It will be able to host students, technicians, as well as leisure and sports areas, a cafeteria, and maintenance and logistics infrastructures.
Once the construction is complete, the IFTS will achieve operational readiness starting in 2022.
Italy currently conducts Phase 2, 3 and 4 training at Galatina (Lecce), where the pilots in the first two phases fly the Aermacchi T-339A and FT-339C (MB339A and MB339CD) and those in the last syllabus, the Leonardo T-346A Master.
While the pilots of Phase 4 will move to Sardinia, the students of the first and second phase will remain in Galatina (Lecce), which will start receiving the new Leonardo T-345A in a few weeks. Thanks to the introduction of the M345, Italy will be one of the very few nations to continue carrying out these three phases with jet aircraft.
With the new Leonardo T-345A arriving soon at the 61° Stormo (Wing) at Galatina (Lecce) to replace gradually the ageing Aermacchi T-339A and FT-339C (MB339) fleets, the T-346A based training syllabus Advanced Phase will be moved progressively to Decimomannu.
The Leonardo T-346A Master is the cornerstone of the Aeronautica Militare training at the 61° Stormo (Wing) at Galatina (Lecce), where many pilots have been trained, not only from Italy but also from a number of other countries including: the USA, Spain, France, Austria, The Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Argentina, Greece and Kuwait.
With a total of 22 Leonardo T-346A Master training aircraft, the new International Flight Training School (IFTS) allows future students to conduct shooting exercises as well as aerial combat or air refueling. The school can thus take over much of the work that in the past was carried out by Operational Conversion Units (OCU) at significantly higher costs. Such capabilities make the IFTS one of the best options for training current and future pilots for the most advanced fighters in the world, such as Lockheed F-35 Lightning II or FCAS (Future Combat Air System).
Image: Leonardo / Photos: Fabrizio Capenti and Fulvio Pavesi, kindly provided by Planespotters.net