An opportunity to take stock with the institutions of the territory of the current and future projects of the base and promote the international aerostatic competition “Aeronautica Militare Balloon Cup”, which will be held at the airport in October. The Tricolour Arrows will also be present for a training session.
With the landing of the last four AMX fighter jets still in service with the Italian Air Force, which came from Istrana, where their activity ended a few days ago after 35 years of service to the country, the collection of historical flying aircraft present at the Piacenza Air Detachment is being enriched; at the end of February, the Air Detachment already welcomed the HH-212 helicopters from Grazzanise, which have also “retired” after more than 40 years of missions in Italy and abroad.
The event provided the opportunity to present to institutions and businesses in the area, professionals and representatives of the media, the current and future projects of the base commanded by T.Col. Salvatore Occini, a military airport that remains an important operational outpost at the service of the Armed Forces but that has long since added to its renewed tasks the recovery and enhancement of the historical aeronautical heritage. Thanks to the expertise of its specialist staff, and in collaboration with a team of technical staff from specialized civil companies, the complex restoration of a Fiat G-91 was already completed in recent months; the aircraft was returned to the skies with the special livery of the Tricoloured Arrows on the occasion of the Centenary Airshow of the Italian Air Force held in June 2023 at the Pratica di Mare airport.
It Air Force General Francesco Vestito, Commander of the 1st Air Region, who presided over the event, in greeting the authorities and the guests who had intervened, with whom he wished first of all to share the feeling of deep sorrow and closeness to the families of the victims and the injured in the tragic incident that has struck the Emilia-Romagna region in these hours, he wished to reiterate “The centrality and importance of the base in Piacenza for the Air Force. A base – the General in Uniform added – fully operational, as demonstrated by the arrival of the AMX fighter jets today, and which remains strategic in the plans of the Armed Forces as a possible deployment base for operational activities, training and exercises, as well as for research, development and testing in the aeronautical and automotive sectors thanks to the use of airport facilities and synergies already in place with institutional, university and industrial entities“.
Among the projects that the Armed Forces are evaluating and studying to move towards an increasingly dual use of the Piacenza military airport is the creation of a Flying Museum which in the future will allow fans of the world of aviation and historians of the sector to admire, even from the air, these devices that have characterized the centuries-old history of the Armed Forces.
This design hypothesis, for which a specific feasibility study has been initiated, was presented during the event by Air Division General Luigi Del Bene, Commander of the Combat Forces. “The key word of this design hypothesis is sustainability – General Del Bene emphasized this in his speech – and around this we are working to understand how to expand the potential of a department that already, in its own mission, values the preservation of the historical aeronautical heritage and that, in the future, thanks to synergies with the territory, our expertise in maintenance and restoration processes and the extensive use of advanced and immersive technologies, we aim to develop it further in an integrated manner with the other museum facilities of the Armed Forces.
On this occasion, the promotion of the’ “Aeronautica Militare Balloon Cup”, a unique aerostatic competition in its kind in Europe and with an international scope, which will take place at the San Damiano Airport from the 11th to the 13th of October. Lieutenant Colonel Angelo Carusone, Head of the Brand and Media Division of Defense Services SpA, the company within the Ministry of Defense responsible for managing and valorizing the Department’s assets, spoke about the initiative; the company conceived the competition in collaboration with the Air Force.
The day was also an opportunity for a large number of students from schools of all levels in the province of Piadena to attend a training session for the Frecce Tricolori aircraft formation, in anticipation of the upcoming start of the 2024 acrobatic season.
