Yesterday morning, Thursday 11 May, at the military airport of Decimonannu (CA) in Sardinia the new campus of the International Flight Training School (IFTS) was presented.
The event was chaired by the Undersecretary of State for Defense, On. Matteo Perego di Cremnago and was attended by the Regional Councillor for General Affairs and Personnel of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, Dr. Andreina Farris, the Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force, Air Force General Luca Goretti and the CEO of Leonardo, Prof. Roberto Cingolani together with numerous representatives of the political and military authorities local and a large representation of heads of foreign air forces.
The speeches were opened by Leonardo’s new CEO, Prof. Cingolani, who underlined during his speech: “Leonardo is carrying out enormous technological developments and is going very fast on digitization and artificial intelligence (AI).” He went on to say: “Technological developments, so new platforms, new simulators, the creation of groups of international pilots using the same training base, I think are very important for the safety of a continent.”
This was followed by the intervention of Gen. Goretti, Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force who at the beginning of his speech wanted to thank the Autonomous Region of Sardinia and all the mayors of the territory: “Without you we would not have been able to carry out this project. It was a winning idea to generate fifth-generation training.” “Through this international structure” – added Gen. Goretti – “we have shown that we are leaders in the flight training sector and we have done so together with an industry of excellence such as Leonardo and a region of excellence such as the Autonomous Region of Sardinia. All this represents a qualitative leap because it is a team effort, which if it is winning leads to a winning result”, concluded the Chief of Staff of the Air Force.
The Councilor Andreina Farris in her speech wanted to highlight how important “today’s day is, we celebrate the achievement of a stage of a highly prestigious project not only for Sardinia that hosts it but for the whole of Italy”. Councillor Farris then spoke about the strategic nature of the investment in terms of high technological capabilities, innovation and eco-sustainability. “Today – continued the representative of the regional council – we can finally say, with pride, that Sardinia, with Decimomannu, hosts the most modern and advanced integrated training system among those present in other Western countries, realized thanks to the positive synergy between the world of Defense, that of industry and our Region”. “The International Flight Training School allows us to double the current training offer of the Italian Air Force. A result of which those of us who believe in the essential values of peace and security can only count among the most important projects in terms of training and technological progress”, Councilor Farris concluded.
To conclude the speeches, Undersecretary Perego di Cremnago who in his speech said: “This project represents a meeting point between two Italian excellences, that of our Air Force, in the year of its first centenary, and that of Defense Companies such as Leonardo, also protagonist of this realization”. He then continued: “Reading and seeing here in front of me the representatives of the countries that have already joined the collaboration with this school such as Austria, Canada, Germany, Japan, Qatar and Singapore and those that will join soon as the United Kingdom, Sweden, Spain, Hungary, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Holland, is a tangible sign of the validity of the project, enhancing the virtuous example of enhancing the excellence of our Country System and maximizing the repercussions economic, technological and development of the entire area on which the enterprise is being carried out”.
The new campus, which covers a total area of 130,000 square meters (equal to 18 football fields), will host students from all over the world and will be able to count on modern and technologically advanced infrastructures starting from the Ground Based Training System (GBTS) – a structure in which the latest generation ground training systems are housed, a brand new hangar, a flight line for T-346A aircraft, a new logistics and maintenance center as well as new and welcoming accommodation for the hospitality of student pilots and school staff.
The International Flight Training School (IFTS) is an Italian excellence of international value, a reference point for the advanced training of military pilots of the Air Force from all over the world who fly on technologically advanced fighters, such as Eurofighter or F-35 aircraft. The first courses based on Decimomannu began in July 2022 hosting not only Italian students but also foreign countries such as Qatar, Japan, Germany, Singapore, Austria and Canada. The new training model leverages the expertise and more than consolidated traditions of the Italian Air Force in the field of military flight training – achieved in over 100 years of history – and Leonardo’s technological excellence represented by the integrated training system based on the M-346 (called T-346A for the Italian Air Force) as well as on the innovative LVC (Live, Virtual and Constructive technology) ), an integrated simulation environment where real and virtual merge into a single operational scenario.
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