http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #365 AUGUST 2018 // 61
Wing commander’s
perspectiveCol Bruno Levati, the 36°
Stormo commander, provided
AFM with his thoughts on the
Italian Air Force’s introduction
of the swing-role Typhoon:
“Swing-role is a project promoted by
the air force. The service’s drive to be more flexible
and more adaptable means everyone has to aim
to expand his/her own range of competences. The
available aircraft now allow this: the Aeronautica
Militare leaves little to envy in other air forces.
“From the point of view of weapons systems, our
capabilities cover the full spectrum, from the CAEW
[G550 Conformal Airborne Early Warning] to the
T-346. Our combat and reconnaissance fleets offer
important capabilities that were never seen before,
including sensor fusion and network-centric potential.
Today’s operational reality requires ever greater
flexibility, as well as the employment of all assets
at our disposal in all their potential applications.
“In a short time, we have moved from theoretical
hypotheses to having additional capabilities and
associated training. The swing-role project was
well judged in terms of timescale: the project was
initiated just as the aircraft was able to accommodate
it. Transforming all this into a capability required
maximum focus, but I believe it has been more
successful than was expected at the outset.
“The reason for the success is that the required
competences were already present. For example, Gioia
del Colle has been a multi-role base for many years,
with pilots already exchanging experiences, flying in
very similar aircraft. The same goes for the engineers.
To bring together all this experience was easier than
might have been imagined. The quality of our pilots is
very high, and this is also true for the newest recruits,
who come to us from training programmes that offer
previously unimaginable capabilities. The high level
of training is a great comfort to a commander, as our
scenarios are ever more demanding and complex, and
we frequently work simultaneously and autonomously
from more than one base. This occurs on operations
or in complex exercises away from our home station,
for example at the Tactical Leadership Programme
at Albacete [see 40 years of excellence, June, p80-
84], at a foreign base under the aegis of a NATO
air policing mission, or at another Italian airfield.
“This unit is also involved in maintenance and the
GEA also delivers flying hours for other units. In
the last year, the 36° Stormo has produced a large
share of the Typhoon fleet’s flying hours. The hours
we’ve flown have been determined by the targets we
have been set. As well as normally assigned hours,
this new training phase impacts across the combat
fleets of the Aeronautica Militare, which also has to
guarantee the surveillance of airspace at home and
abroad [Italy is currently the only NATO nation to
participate in all four NATO air policing operations].
“Our strategy is to exploit the potential offered
by the Typhoon to the maximum. This is the right
formula, as not only has the era of big budgets
come to an end, but also aircraft fleet sizes are
permanently contracting. Italy originally planned
to acquire 121 Typhoons, later reduced to 96, from
which can be subtracted the Tranche 1 aircraft,
which the defence ministry has been attempting to
dispose of for some time. It is therefore essential to
make the most of what remains ‘in the locker’.”path the Typhoon squadrons
follow: “The initiative to
increase the fleet’s capability
was launched from the top,
on the basis of the positive
example offered by the RAF
Typhoons that deployed here [at
Gioia del Colle] during operations
over Libya in 2011 and delivered
excellent outcomes in the air-to-ground
role. This important additional capacity was
achieved at almost zero cost, as it was already
scheduled in the Eurofighter programme.”
Italy launched its swing-role programme at the
end of 2014 when a working group of pilots and
engineers drawn from across the F-2000 fleet
was established at Grosseto. This encompassed
pilots with significant expertise on the Typhoon
and others who had only recently converted
onto the type, but with significant experience in
the air-to-ground
role on the AMX
fleet. Some of
these pilots
had also
completed
exchanges, flying US Air Force
A-10s and F-16s, Armée de
l’Air Mirage 2000Ds or the
Italian Navy AV-8B Plus.Live fi re at Deci
Studies and flying operations
began in January 2015 with the
initial group quickly transformed into
the first ‘swing-roler’ course. The following
March a one-week air-to-ground evaluation
campaign at Decimomannu, Sardinia saw five
aircraft from the three Typhoon wings deliver
inert GBU-16s. Target designation was provided
by on-board pods and strafing made use of
the Mauser BK27 cannon. The results were
excellent, and the group’s work was extended
into June when, in the light of experience
gained, a common training syllabus was
defined for the pilots who would be involved
in the subsequent swing-role qualification
courses. The next two courses were held at
Grosseto before sufficient qualified instructors
facilitated in-house training within each unit.
Each course is divided into three principal
phases with the first, air interdiction (AI),perspective
Stormo commander, provided
AFM
Italian Air Force’s introduction
of the swing-role Typhoon:
“Swing-role is a project promoted byJames LawrenceLeft: Col Bruno Levati is the
commanding offi cer of the 36°
Stormo.