It was signed in recent days by Air Division General Davide Cipelletti, Commander of the Air Force Academy, and from Brigade Air General Olivier Kaladjian, Commander of the French Academy of Aeronautics and Space, the’Intesa Technical which establishes an exchange program for students between the two prestigious aeronautical training institutions.
The initiative fits into the broader framework of bilateral relations between Italy and France, further strengthened by the Treaty of Quirinale, and finds its technical reference in the Agreement between the Ministry of Defence of the Italian Republic and Ministry of Defence of the French Republic, signed in Farnborough on 25 July 2000 and subsequently amended in Rome on 22 April 2010.
Launched in 2024 at the initiative of’Defense Officer at the Italian Embassy in Paris, General B.A. Girolamo Iadicicco, The initiative today allows the launch of a program, the Cadet’s Exchange 2026, which defines the provisions and conditions of a bilateral exchange involving an Italian cadet and a French cadet in the first semester of the second year of Master's Degree course in Engineering.
The result of a long-standing collaboration between the two Nations, The agreement represents a strategic milestone for’Italian Air Force, This strengthens the international projection of the Academy in the field of academic and military training. For the Air Academy, it is also a recognition of the level of excellence achieved in its higher education programs and confirms the Institute’s ability to operate in full harmony with the main European aeronautical institutions.
The signing of the agreement represents above all an investment in the growth of the future. Officials, in their Technical and scientific preparation and in the ability to operate effectively in Multinational contexts. Through the program, the two institutions are consolidating a model of cooperation that values skills, professional culture, and interoperability.
It is also provided for the mutual recognition of study periods completed abroad through the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS), ensuring the full equivalence of training programs. Both official participants will also be able to participate, on a voluntary basis, in extracurricular activities such as conferences, seminars, and visits to operational organizations and industrial entities.
For Italy, the selected cadet will attend the semester of the Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering at the’French Academy in Salon-de-Provence and in parallel the French cadet will complete his semester of studies at the’University of Naples Federico II, With academic paths defined by the reference universities and approved by both institutions of training.
The signing of the agreement was accompanied by two distinct institutional moments that sealed the start of the exchange program. In France, at the Air and Space Academy, General Olivier Kaladjian signed the document in the presence of Gen. B.A. Girolamo Iadicicco, Attaché for Defense at the Italian Embassy in Paris and promoter of the initiative. Similarly, for the Italian side, General Cipelletti signed the Agreement Palazzo Farnese, seat of the French Embassy in Rome, in the presence of S.E. Anne-Marie Descôtes, Ambassador of France in Italy.
