David Cenciotti assesses the Italian Air Force’s Eurofighter Typhoon fleet.
The Italian Air Force (ItAF; Aeronautica Militare) officially took on its first Eurofighter Typhoon, a two-seater serialled MM55092, at Alenia’s Turin Caselle factory on February 19, 2004. This aircraft remained there and the first example to arrive at an ItAF base was a single-seater less than a month later. Aircraft, MM55093/4-1, flown by Major Lorenzo De Stefano of the Reparto Sperimentale Volo (RSV) flight test unit based at Pratica di Mare landed the Typhoon at Grosseto, marking the beginning of Italian Air Force operations with the type.
Today the Typhoon equips five ItAF squadrons at three Main Operating Bases (MOBs): the 9° Gruppo (squadron) and 20° Gruppo operational conversion unit (OCU) of the 4° Stormo (Wing) at Grosseto; the 10° and 12° Gruppo belong to the 36° Stormo at Gioia del Colle; and the 18° Gruppo, of the 37° Stormo, are at Trapani, in Sicily.
Italian Typhoons undertook their first quick reaction alert (QRA) shift in support of the Servizio Sorveglianza Spazio Aereo (SSSA – Airspace Surveillance Service) on December 16, 2005. Around the clock, 365 days a year, two QRA cells, consisting of two F-2000As (as…
