The first students to carry out “missions” on the new Armed Forces trainer belong to the Italian Air Force and the Dutch Air Force.
In recent weeks, the flight activity on the T-345A training aircraft began at the 61st Wing of Galatina (LE), on the “F. Cesari” airport, as part of Phase II of the training process for military pilots. The first students to carry out “missions” on the new Armed Forces trainer belong to the Italian Air Force and the Dutch Air Force.
The real flight activity was started after a period of ground school, including theoretical lessons and an intense program carried out on simulators, thanks to which the students became familiar with the airplane’s systems, developing the skills necessary for the transition to operational use.
The T-345A, designed and built in Italy thanks to Leonardo’s consolidated experience in the field of military trainers, is a new generation system, capable of integrating, even within the training context, advanced technologies and high performance. The use of the new aircraft will make it possible to further raise the quality standards of training, ensuring greater continuity and effectiveness in the transition path to the subsequent stages of training.
Together with Leonardo’s Ground Based Training System (GBTS), the T-345A guarantees high levels of training, reduced flight hours and associated costs, and greater sustainability. Finally, the T-345A and T-346A integrated systems allow a fluid training path for pilots destined for aerotactical lines, improving the overall effectiveness of the entire training process.
For Colonel Gianfranco Liccardo, Commander of the 61st Wing “The start of real activities on the T-345 represents a further historic step for our Department which is enriched with a high-performance asset and projected towards the future training needs of the Italian Air Force and the air forces of the partner countries. This is an important milestone, supported by the presence of foreign students, which confirms, once again, the role of excellence played by this school in the process of preparing new military pilots”.
The Commander of the Air Force Schools and the 3^ Air Region, Air Force General Francesco Vestito, on the occasion of a visit to the Department, wanted to meet the young students, emphasizing the founding values of dedication, professionalism and sense of duty as essential elements to be inspired to successfully continue on the path that awaits them. The 61st Wing, for years an international point of reference in the military flight training sector, thus continues on the path of consolidating Italian leadership, thanks to an innovative approach that integrates cutting-edge technology, sustainability and international cooperation. At the Salento Flight School, as part of the four phases in which the training process for military pilots is divided, it carries out: Phase II (Primary Pilot Training), common to all student pilots; Phase III (Specialized Pilot Training), aimed at those selected for the combat lines (fighters); Phase IV (also called Lead In-to Fighter Training – LIFT), preparatory to use on the latest generation fighters such as Eurofighter and F-35, on the other hand, is developed by the 212th Flight Group/IFTS integrated into the International Flight Training School (IFTS) and located on the air base of Decimomannu (CA), in Sardinia.
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