The personnel and assets of the Air Force have completed the Flying Course 2014-1 in Albacete (Spain). The Air Force participated in the course, which began on Monday 13 January, with four Eurofighters from the 4th Stormo of Grosseto and the 37th Stormo of Trapani, two Tornado ECR from the 50th Stormo of Piacenza, two Tornado IDS from the 6th Stormo of Ghedi, two AMX from the 51st Stormo of Istrana, one KC-767A tanker from the 14th Stormo of Pratica di Mare as support assets during the flight refueling missions, two AB-212 from the 9th Stormo of Grazzanise and a group of air rescue personnel as “extraction team”, composed of personnel from the 9th Stormo and the 15th Stormo in Cervia, as part of CSAR missions (Combat Search and Rescue), an Intelligence officer of the 50th Stormo, a surveillance controller of the Riporto Group and Air Defense Control of Poggio Renatico and personnel of ReSTOGE (Technical Support and Operational Support Department for Electronic Warfare) of Pratica di Mare. The results achieved were excellent, both in terms of flown sorties and the training objectives achieved. Among the aspects of greatest interest that characterized the 2014-1 flight course is the effective use of the Link16 by the KC767A during the flight refueling operations. The possibility of connecting to the network with such a high number of aircraft and sharing information such as, for example, the PPLI (Precise Participant Location and Identification) constitutes an essential element in the construction of the Air Picture, both for the flight crews and for the ground control agencies. It is also worth noting the use, with excellent results, of the reconnaissance pod by AMX and Tornado aircraft. The crews and support personnel were engaged, for the four weeks of the course, in the planning, conduct and execution of COMAO (Composite Air Operations – Joint Air Operations) based on scenarios that simulated the different contexts in which air power can be deployed. The level of challenge with which the participants were confronted was high given the presence of numerous aircraft as “Aggressors”Including 2 American F15s, 2 Spanish F18s, 2 Spanish Eurofighters, 2 Italian Eurofighters, 2 French Alphajets, as well as a Spanish DA20 and four helicopters (1 Caracal and 1 Puma and 2 AB212).
Also for the 2014-1 flight course, the participants benefited from the use of Link-16 workstations made available by the Spanish Air Force, equipped with complex simulation capabilities and capable of presenting a complete “air picture”. The RTMS capabilities (Real Time Monitoring System) that the Spanish system is capable of supporting allows the TLP instructor staff to present very complex and stimulating missions, interact in real time, adapting the scenario accordingly “injections”in order to maximize the “learning objectives”, as well as to monitor the execution of the planned activity by exercising certain command and control functions. The Tactical Leadership Programme (TLP), which has been based at the Albacete Air Base in Spain since July 2009, is an organization that was founded on the basis of a “Memorandum of Understanding”signed by 10 Nations (Italy, Spain, USA, UK, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Greece, Germany and Denmark). Italy joined the TLP as a signatory nation in January 1996. Its mission is to improve the effectiveness of air operations conducted by Allied Forces by promoting the development of assertive leadership skills and the ability to analyze, plan, execute and evaluate air operations.“combined” requests to a “mission commander“. The TLP is actively cooperating with NATO on the basis of a “Letter of Agreement”signed by the two Organizations.”.
