Agreement between the Italian and the Royal Air Forces for the training of British pilots at the Decimomannu IFTS
13 May 2023 – During the two days dedicated to aerospace, the United Kingdom joins the nations that have already chosen the International Flight Training School for the operational training of their military pilots During today morning session, as part of the second day of work at the AeroSpace Power Conference, the Italian Air Force and the Royal Air Force (RAF) signed an agreement for the training (Phase IV) of Student Pilots and Instructor Pilots at the International Flight Training School of Decimomannu (CA), Italy. The arrival of the first two British Student Pilots at the IFTS is scheduled for July and by 2023 there will be four RAF pilots in Sardinia.
This agreement substantially reaffirms what was stated on 11 May in Decimomannu by the Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force, Gen. Luca Goretti, on the occasion of the presentation of the new IFTS campus: “Through this international structure we have demonstrated that we are leaders in the flight training sector. The new campus is spread over a total area of 130,000 square meters (equal to 18 football fields) and can count on modern and technologically advanced infrastructures starting from the Ground Based Training System (GBTS).
The International Flight Training School (IFTS) is an Italian excellence of international value, the result of the collaboration between the Air Force and Leonardo as well as a reference point for the advanced training of military pilots of the air forces from all over the world who fly on technologically advanced, such as the Eurofighter or F-35 aircraft for example. The first courses based on Decimomannu already started in July 2022, hosting, in addition to Italian students, also foreign students from countries such as Qatar, Japan, Germany, Singapore, Austria, Canada, Saudi Arabia.
Unofficial translation by EDR On-Line
Photo courtesy Italian Air Force
