The Galatina Flight School receives a visit from a delegation from Slovakia, a testament to the ever-growing interest of foreign countries in Italian training systems
Thursday, May 12, The Deputy State Secretary for Defense of the Slovak Republic, Marian Majer, accompanied by the Ambassador of Slovakia in Italy Karla Wursterová, paid a visit to the 61st Air Wing, the international flight school based at the military airport of Galatina (Lecce). The guests were welcomed by Air Force Corps General Silvano Frigerio, Commander of the Air Force Schools/3rd Air Region, and from Colonel Filippo Nannelli, Commander of the 61st Air Wing. After the customary greetings, Colonel Nannelli explained, during a briefing, the history, the mission And the school’s extensive training offer, highlighting, on the one hand, the experience accumulated over 75 years of flight training, and on the other hand, the use of highly technological systems, all of which are domestically produced and unique in the world. The visit continued at the facilities dedicated to the training of pilots destined for the “fighter lines”: inside the Ground-Based Training System, The building that houses the “ground floor” segment” of the’Integrated Training System (ITS) T-346A, the platform used to train future pilots has attracted particular attention“Fighters“, whose capabilities Live, Virtual and Constructive (LVC) not only allow the user to train in extremely complex synthetic environments, but even manage to connect the simulators to the T-346A in operational use, creating a Network in which virtual aircraft, actually in flight aircraft, and other synthetic tracks developed on the computer perform joint missions.
Tradition and innovation therefore, a mix that makes the flight school of Galatina an international showcase of excellence.“Made in Italy”in the field of military pilot training and explains the interest of air forces around the world in a Department that, through its professionalism, is one of the most significant expressions of the Armed Forces’ ability to serve the country.
“The activity once again represented a valuable opportunity to introduce the qualities and capabilities of the national aviation training sector to other countries, in this case the Slovak Republic” General Frigerio stated on the occasion, continuing: “We are aware that we represent an excellence, thanks to the introduction of increasingly modern training tools and processes that are aligned with the latest-generation weapon systems. We are also proud that so many countries from all over the world are attracted by this extraordinary innovative scope of the training system used by the 61st Air Wing of the Italian Air Force.”.
The 61st Squadron, which is subordinate to the Command of the A.M./3rd Air Region of Bari, is a “flight school” whose primary mission is to provide flight training for student pilots on aerobatics aircraft. In particular, courses for Phase II are held at the Salento air base.“Primary Pilot Training”(selection of the flight route for future assignment), phase III“Fighter Track”(military pilot’s license for those who will fly on the fighter lines) and phase IV“Lead In-to Fighter Training” (preparatory to advanced training on combat aircraft). Currently, the 61st Squadron hosts personnel (instructors and/or trainees) from as many as eight foreign nations: Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Austria, Japan, Greece, Qatar, Singapore, and the United States.
