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Further Reading

Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare)

By the year 2010 the size of the Italian Air Force had been halved over the previous ten years in terms of personnel, materiel and equipment but it had lost none of its efficiency, Italy's top military commander said. "The fact that it is half the size it was ten years ago does not mean it has lost its effectiveness," according to Gen. Giuseppe Bernardis, armed forces chief of staff. Speaking in an address marking the Air Force's 87th anniversary, he said: "We have invested and continue to invest the resources we have been allocated in the quality of our materiel and, above all, the training of our personnel."

The Italian Air Force reportedly operates a total active fleet of 517 aircraft, which makes it NATO's fifth largest only behind the U.S., the UK, Turkey and France. The IAF operates 217 fighter aircraft.

Many crises required the intervention of the Italian Air Force in Somalia, Mozambique, Eastern Africa, Timor East, the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon. The conflict in the former Yugoslavia, only a few minutes flying time from the Italian borders, saw a need to improve the future air defense.

As a stopgap and as replacement for leased Tornado Air Defense Variant interceptors, the AMI has leased 30 F-16A Block 15 Air Defense Fighters, and four F-16 Block 10 Fighting Falcons, with an option to lease some more. The coming years also will see the introduction of 121 Euro-Fighter 2000 Typhoons, replacing the leased F-16 Fighting Falcons, and the Joint Strike Fighter. Furthermore, updates are foreseen on the Tornado IDS/IDT and the AMX-fleet.

The transport capacity had already been improved with the delivery of 18 C-130Js and an upgrade program for the C-130Hs. Also, a newly developed G-222, called C-27J Spartan, will enter into service, replacing the G-222.

The aerobatic precision team called the Frecce Tricolori (Three-colored Arrows) is the precision aerobatic demonstration team for the Italian Air Force. It flies the Aermacchi MB-339-A/PAN, a two-seat fighter-trainer capable of roughly 898-km/h at sea level. The Frecce Tricolori is the largest in the world, counting 10 planes in their team. Nine remain in formation while one other flies solo during most of the air show. The team is based in Rivolto in the northeastern Italian region called Fuiuli Venezia Giulia. The Frecce Tricolori are considered one of the best teams in the world in their specialty. In 2005, they won the award for best exhibition at the most important military airshow: the Royal International Air Tattoo, which is held in Fairford in the United Kingdom.

The word "stórmo" s. m. [voice longob.; cf. ted. Sturm ' assault '] literally means "Flock". - 1. ant. Assault, military confrontation: Io vidi già cavalier muover campo, E cominciare stormo I already saw the cavaliers move onto the field, and assault start" (Dante). 2. a. ant. or letter. Host, host of armed, spec. Cavalry, gathered to fight: E stormi e stormi correre in tempesta Sopra il Carroccio And flocks and swarms storm over the Carroccio (Pascoli); by extention, a multitude of people, or even animals.