A virtuoso example of public-private partnership born from the synergistic collaboration between the Italian Air Force and Leonardo
The visit of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Air Force General Luca Goretti, took place on November 13th at the Decimomannu military airport (CA) in Sardinia. He met, together with the leaders of Leonardo, the mayors of the neighbouring municipalities and the Sardinian political authorities to showcase the new headquarters of the’International Flight Training School IFTS.
The International Flight Training School (IFTS) is an Italian centre of excellence with international standing, a benchmark for the advanced training of military pilots from air forces worldwide who fly frontline fighters, such as aircraft Eurofighter Typhoon or the F-35.
The new Decimomannu campus is nearing completion and will feature dedicated infrastructure: accommodation for pilot trainees and school staff, a new logistics and maintenance centre, a hangar, a flight line for T-346A aircraft, and a facility for Ground-Based Training System (GBTS), which houses the latest generation of ground simulation systems and covers a total area of 130,000 sq m, the equivalent of 18 football pitches.
The international value of the project, the economic and employment impacts on the territory linked to an initiative of such scale, as well as the high level of technology that the IFTS brings are the themes at the centre of the event, which was attended by, among others, the Warrant Officer Class 2, Air Squad General Aurelio Colagrande, the Commander of the Air Force Schools / 3rd Air Region, Air Force General Silvano Frigerio, the Head of IFTS Programme Office Air Brigade General Luigi Casali, the Chairman of Leonardo, Gen. C.A. Luciano Carta, l’Chief Executive Officer of Leonardo, Dr Alessandro Profumo, and the Director General Leonardo, Eng. Lucio Valerio Cioffi.
Together with the vertices of the’Italian Air Force and of Leonardo, the visit was also attended by Vice President of Autonomous Region of Sardinia, On. Giuseppe Fasolino, who during his speech highlighted the importance of such an ambitious project for Sardinia and for all of Italy, while at the same time emphasizing how this synergy between the Autonomous Region of Sardinia and the Armed Forces represents an opportunity for development and an example to follow in both research and technological innovation.
In effect, the IFTS represents a new model of training and education that draws on the expertise, competence, and more than consolidated traditions of the Italian Air Force in the field of military flight training – achieved over 100 years of history – and on Leonardo's technological excellence. With the start of the first courses, as early as July 2022, the air forces of Qatar, Japan, Germany, and Singapore have already chosen the Italian IFTS for their pilots.
During the visit, the Chief of the Air Staff, Gen. S.A. Luca Goretti, expressed great satisfaction with the synergy between the Italian Air Force, Leonardo, the Autonomous Region of Sardinia and all the neighbouring municipalities, Decimomannu, Decimoputzu, Villasor, and San Sperate, which has given life to a unique project of its kind: “We are a cohesive team that allows the pooling of the Armed Forces' military skills and flight training expertise with the technology of Italian industry, for the benefit of the entire country. Furthermore, the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, with its territory, embodies the essence of the IFTS project, a project with future professional, cultural, and occupational development.“General Goretti finally concluded: ” We are recognised as world leaders in flight training, and the trust that international aviation companies place in us is a clear example of this.
Alessandro Profumo, Chief Executive Officer of Leonardo, he then commented: “In Decimomannu, we are creating an infrastructure unlike few others in the world and one that brings a very high degree of technological innovation. Leonardo's investments are already generating significant territorial benefits, both in terms of advanced expertise and in terms of employment and economics. This is a new training model that takes training capabilities to an even higher level and allows us to strengthen our international competitive positioning in the advanced training sector, also as a Training Service Provider.
