combat aircraft

detachment location for European air

forces wishing to hone their skills with

the resident RSSTA (Reparto Sperimentale

e di Standardizzazione Tiro Aereo), the

aerial gunnery standardization and

experimentation unit. Sorties lown here

by the Italian IDS and ECR leets — known

respectively as the A-200 and EA-200,

in accordance with the Italian mission

design series — complement the lying

back at Ghedi in northern Italy, which

mainly involves medium and low-level

training, including aerial support to the

Esercito Italiano (Italian Army) or Marina

Militare (Italian Navy), as well as a couple

of monthly combined air operations

(COMAOs). This is typically accompanied

by national and multi-national exercises

and deployments to Spain to work the

Bardenas range or to participate in a

Tactical Leadership Program (TLP) class.

According to Fabio, ‘We normally take

part in TLP with two aircraft and as

many aircrews — TLP is considered to

be the apex of our training, considering

the complexity of the scenarios and

the variety of international assets that

take part in the mission. We try to rotate

aircrews so pilots

or navigators who

have not attended

the course are

given a chance to

deploy to Albacete.

We also train on

the Polygone range,

located in Germany,

to undertake speciic

training against

threats simulated

inside this electronic

warfare range. These

missions are similar to the sorties we

ly here at night from Deci inside the

PISQ [Poligono Interfoze Salto di Quirra,

Salto di Quirra range].’ No air-to-surface

events are carried out in this area, where

the ECRs ly mainly at night to train

against anti-aircraft threats and assess

the performance of the on-board radar

warning receiver.

The Capo Teulada range, north of

Frasca in south-western Sardinia, is where

joint terminal attack controller (JTAC)

training is lown with inert weapons.

Much of the Deci lying is concentrated

inside the Capo Frasca range, also in the

south-west of Sardinia. The range is used

for daylight gunnery and inert weapons

drops with practice bombs carried in the

carrier bomb light store (CBLS). Precision

weapons can be employed during the

Deci weapons camp, which means using

Capo Teulada. Both are handily just a

few minutes’ light time from the base,

usually permitting a high rate of missions

but of shorter duration. Deci dets can be

intense, with lots of lying and rarely any

poor weather.

Range time

Two main types of training events can

be lown inside the Frasca range: ‘hot’,

where stores are released, and ‘dry’,

simulated releases or practice passes

without releasing stores. Typical sorties

include a mix of ‘hot’ and ‘dry’ passes

over the target sets, the latter

usually coming irst to enable the

crew to become familiarized

with the range and the

pattern, followed by the

important ‘hot’

runs. The targets

Clockwise

from right: An

upgraded A-200C.

For missions at

the range, Italian

Tornados carry

two CBLS (carrier

bomb light

stores) under the

fuselage.

A great view of

Deci as a Tornado

returns from the

range.

Each CBLS is

loaded with four

dummy bombs:

Mk106 or DM18

(high-drag) and

BDU-33D/B or

B/B (low-drag).

Below: This ECR

is climbing out of

Deci with its twin

RB199 engines in

full reheat.

TYPE REPORT // ITALIAN TORNADO

40 November 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net