The AMX light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft is retired after 35 years of service.
On Apr. 5, 2024, the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force) officially bid farewell to its AMX “Ghibli” fleet with a ceremony organized at Istrana AB in northeastern Italy, home of the 51° Stormo (Wing), whose child unit, the 132° Gruppo (Squadron) is the last one to operate the light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft.
The AMX phase-out was also an opportunity for the Italian Air Force to arrange a Spotter Day (that we will cover in an upcoming report) and present the type’s last Special Colored A-11B (as the AMX ACOL is officially designated in accordance with the Mission Design Series of the Italian MOD).
The Special Color
The aircraft, is the single seater MM7162/51-34 sporting a special livery with a pilot who salutes wrapped in the tricolour of the Italian flags and the Latin phrase “Volatus ad astra, memoria in aeternum”, that translates in English “Flew to the stars, remembered forever”.
Behind the cockpit, on the fuselage, a compass and a stylized world are depicted to represent the contribution to missions inside and outside national borders.
The AMX in Italian Air Force service
Six prototypes of the AM-X (commonly known as AMX and later officially nicknamed “Ghibli” by the Italian Air Force) were manufactured (one was lost in an accident), 136 examples (110 single and 26 twin-seat, these last called the AMX-T) were ordered by the Italian Air Force and 56 were ordered by Brazil.
The first AMX was officially delivered to the Aeronautica Militare on Apr. 19, 1989. The aircraft was the AMX serialled MM7091 that was taken on charge by the Evaluation Unit of the ItAF, the Reparto Sperimentale di Volo (RSV), based in Pratica di Mare airport, near Rome. The 311th Gruppo of the RSV took the first six examples on charge and began an intensive test campaign made of 1,500 flight hours to explore the whole aircraft flight envelope. The unit tested the aircraft in all its aspects using also all the armament it could carry operating in the Sardinian ranges out of Decimomannu, where the first prototypes were also stationed for a certain period for various tests. In October 1989 the first production examples were delivered to the unit of the Italian Air Force that had been destined to the conversion on the AMX: the 103° Gruppo of the 51° Stormo at Istrana.
The Italian AMXs, that emerged as some of the most cost-effective assets during the Air War in Libya and, much earlier, during the Allied Force in Serbia and Kosovo, operated over Afghanistan and supported Operation Inherent Resolve over Iraq and Syria using the Reccelite reconnaissance pod.
AMX ACOL
In 2012, Alenia Aermacchi (a subsidiary of Leonardo) completed the upgrade of the fleet to the ACOL standard (Upgrade of Operational and Logistic Capabilities – Adeguamento delle Capacità Operative e Logistiche) re-delivering 52 upgraded aircraft (42 single and 10 twin-seat) to the Italian Air Force.
The updated planes feature an inertial/GPS navigation system (EGI- Embedded GPS/Inertial) and the integration of a GPS-guided precision armament along with avionics improvements on 42 single-seat aircraft, which include New Generation Identification Friend or Foe, Night Vision Goggle (NVG) capability, a modern multi-function colour display and a more powerful computer symbol generator (CSG).
Throughout the years the AMX has equipped the following units:
- 13° Gruppo belonging to the 32° Stormo at Amendola
- 101° Gruppo OCU / 32° Stormo at Amendola
- 14° Gruppo / 2° Stormo at Rivolto
- 28° Gruppo / 3° Stormo at Verona Villafranca
- 103° Gruppo / 51° Stormo at Istrana
- 132° Gruppo / 51° Stormo at Istrana. This is the last active unit.
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