Combat aircraft

what was the second Icelandic stint for

the F-2000s, which previously deployed

here in 2013.

In short order after the northern trip,

the Italian Euro ghters were readied for

the summer heat of Bulgaria as from July

they headed to Graf Ignatievo to jointly

secure the regional airspace.

Dubbed ‘Task Force Air 4° Stormo —

Operation Bulgarian Horse’, the mission

started on July 7 and concluded at the

beginning of November after 500 hours

of  ight operations. It involved four

aircraft that worked hand-in-hand with

the Bulgarian Air Force, manning QRA

and  ying joint interoperability and core

training missions. Of note is the fact that

T

HE EUROFIGHTER F2000, as

it is known in Italian service,

is today the bastion of the

country’s air defense mission

and  rmly established with

the 4° Stormo at Grosseto, 36°

Stormo at Gioia del Colle and 37° Stormo

at Trapani. The Italian Euro ghter wings

have also been called upon to ful ll

NATO air policing missions, notably

during 2017 deploying to Iceland and

to Bulgaria.

To kick things o in 2017, the

Aeronautica Militare decided to

reorganize its domestic air defense

system, and in January it set about

moving the rotational quick reaction

alert (QRA) detachment from Cameri to

Istrana to better protect Italy’s north-

eastern approaches.

The  rst NATO commitment of

2017 ran from March 17 until April 14

and saw the Italian F-2000s policing

Iceland’s airspace under Task Force

Air Northern Ice. Two jets from each

of the three wings deployed with

around 140 personnel to Ke avík and

mounted a constant QRA cycle, with a

pair of aircraft on alert. In addition, the

detachment  ew daily training missions

from this rather austere location, where

the weather can  uctuate signi cantly.

The six Euro ghters logged some 160

 ight hours throughout the period, in

Above left to right:

Engines running

and ready to taxi

from a dark and

damp hardened

aircraft shelter at

Kefl avík.

Col Moris Ghiadoni

led the Italian

detachment in

Bulgaria.

Below: Pre-fl ight

checks of a

live AIM-120C

Advanced

Medium-Range

Air-to-Air Missile

(AMRAAM).

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