The farewell of the Italian Air Force to its veteran AMX 'Ghibli' fighter aircraft

@DefAviation ES 4·05·2024 · 23:20 0

On May 15, 1984 the AMX 'Ghibli' made its first flight, after only three years of development. It will soon be 40 years.

Panavia Tornado: its Italian pilots show us this veteran combat aircraft
A tour of the spectacular Italian Air Force Museum after its renovation

The Ghibli, known as Falcão in Brazil, was a design by AMX International, a company formed by the Italian firms Aeritalia and Aermacchi and the Brazilian firm Embraer. This aircraft emerged to replace the old Fiat G.91 and F-104 Starfighter as a light fighter and attack aircraft. The AMX Ghibli shares its small size with its predecessor: 13.2 meters long and a wingspan of 8.9 meters.

Until now, the AMX has only had two operators: Italy, which acquired 136 units (110 single-seaters and 26 two-seaters), and Brazil, which acquired 55, which are still in operation. asset. Another 11 countries were interested in this model, but ultimately those sales did not prosper.

The AMX entered service in 1989. I remember that I met it in the excellent encyclopedia "Aviones de Guerra" (War Planes) when I was a child and I loved its design. It became one of my favorite fighter planes. Today the Italian Military Aeronautics held a farewell ceremony for the AMX, which is retiring after 35 years of service. The ceremony was held at the Istrana air base, in charge of the 51st Fighter Wing. Seeing its withdrawal from service fills me with nostalgia.

The farewell ceremony was presided over by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Air General Luca Goretti, and was attended by the heads of the Armed Forces and numerous military authorities and civilians. It was precisely in Istrana where the AMX began its service in Italy in 1989, with the 103rd Flight Group. One of the AMXs has received a special decoration for this farewell, which includes the insignia of the units that have operated this aircraft: the 2nd, 3rd, 32nd and 51st Fighter Wings.

In these 35 years, the AMX has accumulated more than 240,000 flight hours with the Italian Military Aeronautics, participating in 18,500 real operations and flying over 33 nations. It has served as a light fighter and attack and reconnaissance aircraft, participating in operations in the former Yugoslavia and in Kosovo in the 1990s, in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2014, in Libya in 2011 and also in Iraq and Kuwait from 2016 to 2019, participating in Operation "Inherent Resolve" against ISIS.

"Today we say goodbye to an aircraft that made history in Military Aeronautics", General Goretti stated. "For us an airplane is not a simple piece of iron, it is part of the family. Behind this plane there is a submerged world of joys and sorrows, of emotions, of people who managed it, maintained it, made it fly - and our thoughts go to those who are no longer with us - allowing us to achieve results and maintain extraordinary operating standards."

At the farewell held this Friday, the AMXs were accompanied by a Tornado, a Eurofighter and an F-35, thus bringing together all the types of combat aircraft currently operated by Italy. The event also featured the participation of the Frecce Tricolori, the national acrobatics team of the Italian Military Aeronautics.

Four AMXs (two single-seaters and two two-seaters) will continue their activity in the coming weeks, finally flying to Piacenza Airport, where the future "Flying Museum" of Military Aeronautics will be built, where those four planes will be preserved.

You can see here the farewell video of the AMX published today by the Italian Military Aeronautics, also celebrating the 35th anniversary of its entry into service:

---

Photos: Aeronáutica Militar Italiana.