The Italian Air Force is the air force of the Italian Republic. The Italian Air Force was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923 by King Victor Emmanuel III as the Regia Aeronautica. After World War II, when Italy became a republic following a referendum, the Regia Aeronautica was given its current name. Since its formation, the service has held a prominent role in modern Italian military history. The acrobatic display team is the Frecce Tricolori.
The AMX International AMX is a ground-attack aircraft jointly developed by Brazil and Italy. The AMX is designated A-11 Ghibli by the Italian Air Force and A-1 by the Brazilian Air Force. The Italian name, "Ghibli", is taken from the hot dry wind of the Libyan desert.
Frederick Wilford "Rick" Sturckow is an engineer, retired United States Marine Corps officer, former NASA astronaut, and commercial spacecraft pilot. Sturckow is a veteran of four Space Shuttle missions. He flew as a pilot on STS-88 and STS-105 and as a commander on STS-117 and STS-128. All four missions docked with the International Space Station, making Sturckow one of three American astronauts to visit the station four times. Sturckow later was assigned to the Johnson Space Center as a CAPCOM. He left NASA in 2013 to become a pilot for Virgin Galactic.
Brigadier Roberto Vittori, OMRI is an Italian Air Force officer and an ESA astronaut. After graduating from the Italian Accademia Aeronautica in 1989, Vittori flew in the Italian Air Force. He then trained as a test pilot in the United States.
Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. is a British-American spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson and the Virgin Group conglomerate which retains an 11.9% stake through Virgin Investments Limited. It is headquartered in California, and operates from New Mexico. The company develops commercial spacecraft and provides suborbital spaceflights to space tourists. Virgin Galactic's suborbital spacecraft are air launched from beneath a carrier airplane known as White Knight Two. Virgin Galactic's maiden spaceflight occurred in 2018 with its VSS Unity spaceship. Branson had originally hoped to see a maiden spaceflight by 2010, but the date was delayed, primarily due to the October 2014 crash of VSS Enterprise.
Major Adriano Visconti di Lampugnano was one of Italy's top flying aces of the Second World War, during which he shot down between 10 and 26 enemy aircraft. He was awarded four Medaglia d'argento al Valor Militare and two Medaglia di Bronzo al Valor Militare "in action".
Vincenzo Camporini, KGC, is an Italian general and politician. He was the Chief of the Defence General Staff in Italy from 12 February 2008 until 2011. He became chief of staff of the Italian Air Force on 20 September 2006. Camporini has over 2,500 hours' flying time in over twenty different aircraft types, including helicopters. General Camporini is qualified in Aeronautical Sciences and International and Diplomatic Sciences. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
Colonel Luca Parmitano is an Italian astronaut in the European Astronaut Corps for the European Space Agency (ESA). He was selected as an ESA astronaut in May 2009. Parmitano is also a Colonel and test pilot for the Italian Air Force. He is the first Italian to command the International Space Station (ISS) during Expedition 61.
Rivolto Air Base is an Italian Air Force air base located in Codroipo, province of Udine (Italy). It is the home base of the Frecce Tricolori aerobatic display team. Besides a military airport it is an important air force Meteorological Service station. Rivolto Air Base was founded after the Italian Royal Decree N. 2207 of 1923, authorised the establishment of new airports and expropriate land for their construction.
Guido Fibbia was an Italian Second World War fighter pilot in the Regia Aeronautica and in the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana. He was credited with 9 enemy planes shot down flying with biplanes Fiat C.R.32, Fiat C.R.42 and monoplanes Macchi C.200, C.202, C.205, Fiat G.50, G.55 and the German Messerschmitt Bf 109. He was decorated with two Silver Medal of Military Valor, one Bronze Medal of Military Valor, one Croce di Guerra and one German Iron Cross 2nd Class.
David William Donald Mackay is the Chief Pilot of Virgin Galactic, a commercial astronaut and a former RAF test pilot. He is the first native-born Scot to visit space.
Michael Tyner Alsbury was an American test pilot for Scaled Composites. He died on October 31, 2014, during test flight PF04 of the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo VSS Enterprise.
Tommaso Dal Molin was an Italian fighter pilot and internationally prominent seaplane air racer and aerobatic pilot of the 1920s.
The article provides an overview of the entire chain of command and organization of the Italian Air Force as of 1 January 2018 and includes all currently active units. The Armed Forces of Italy are under the command of the Italian Supreme Defense Council, presided over by the President of the Italian Republic. The Italian Air Force is commanded by the Chief of the Air Force General Staff or "Capo di Stato Maggiore dell’Aeronautica Militare" in Rome.
Kelly Latimer is a combat veteran, retired United States Air Force lieutenant colonel, and commercial spaceship pilot. She was the first female research pilot to join the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center. She works with Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit, and was the latter's pilot in command for their first rocket launch in January 2021. Latimer flew the T-38, T-34, Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, Boeing C-17, 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy 747SP. On August 10, 2023 Latimer co-piloted VSS Unity along with Frederick W. Sturckow as commercial astronaut pilot of Virgin's Galactic 02.
Giovanni De Briganti was an Italian World War I fighter pilot, seaplane air racer of the 1920s, aerobatic pilot, and test pilot.
Galactic 01, previously referred to as Unity 23, was a sub-orbital spaceflight of the SpaceShipTwo-class VSS Unity which launched on 29 June 2023. The launch was the first commercial spaceflight for Virgin Galactic. A research mission for the Italian Air Force, the crew consisted of pilots Michael Masucci and Nicola Pecile as well as crew members Colin Bennett, Walter Villadei, Angelo Landolfi, and Pantaleone Carlucci. The flight was postponed from its original planned October 2021 flight date for Virgin Galactic to upgrade its SpaceShipTwo vehicles.
Walter Villadei is an Italian military officer. He graduated from the Academy of the Italian Air Force in Pozzuoli and holds a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Naples Federico II and a specialization in astronautical engineering from the University of Rome. He was trained as a cosmonaut in Russia. He first flew to space in June 2023 on the Galactic 01 mission. In January-February 2024, he spent 18 days at the International Space Station as part of Axiom Mission 3.
