The Italian Air Force in 2026: Every Aircraft It Flies, From Typhoons to F-35Bs

The Italian Air Force is built around two fighters. FlightGlobal’s World Air Forces 2026 directory counts 88 Eurofighter Typhoons and 31 F-35s in day-to-day use, and Italy has 24 more Typhoons and dozens more F-35s on order.

Its Italian name is the Aeronautica Militare. It flies both the conventional F-35A and the short-takeoff F-35B, and it builds its own F-35s at a final assembly plant in Cameri, near Milan.

This guide ranks every aircraft type it flies by its weight in Italian air power as of October 2026. It then covers the nuclear mission, the 2026 deployments to the Gulf and the Baltic, the next fighter Italy is building with Britain and Japan, and the US Air Force base it hosts at Aviano.

Rank	Aircraft	Role	Fleet	Status
1	Eurofighter Typhoon (F-2000)	Air defense, multirole	88	24 Tranche 4+ jets on order from 2029
2	F-35A and F-35B Lightning II	Stealth multirole, strike	31	95 planned for the Air Force
3	Panavia Tornado ECR and IDS	Radar suppression, strike	12 ECR, last IDS	IDS stood down July 2025, ECR has no end date
4	KC-767A and KC-130J	Aerial refueling	4 and 4	6 A330 MRTTs ordered April 2026
5	Gulfstream E-550A and G550 EW	Early warning, electronic warfare	2 and 4	Third E-550A in testing, 2 EA-37Bs on order
6	MQ-9A Reaper	Armed surveillance drone	About 5	2 more due by the end of 2027
7	C-130J and C-130J-30	Tactical and long-range airlift	9	In service since 2000
8	C-27J Spartan and EC-27J	Light airlift, electronic warfare	12 airframes	MC-27J gunship kits by 2030
9	P-72A	Maritime patrol	4	Replacement program of 6 aircraft planned
10	M-346 (T-346A)	Advanced jet trainer	27	20 more ordered, 15 for the Frecce Tricolori
11	M-345 and MB-339	Basic jet trainer, display team	9 and 25	M-345 in service June 2025
12	SF-260 and P.180	Primary and multi-engine training	29 and 10	In service
13	HH-101A, HH-139, TH-500B	Combat rescue, search and rescue, training	12, 30, 37	30 AW169 trainers planned
14	A319CJ, G650ER, Falcon 900	Government transport	3, 4, 3	G650ERs delivered 2025

1. Eurofighter Typhoon: 88 Jets Holding the Line

The Eurofighter Typhoon, designated F-2000 in Italian service, is the backbone of the force. The first one landed at Grosseto on March 16, 2004, and the type now equips six squadrons at four bases: Grosseto, Gioia del Colle, Trapani and Istrana.

FlightGlobal counted 88 in day-to-day use in its 2026 directory. Italy took the last of its original batch in October 2020, and sources give the total delivered as 95 or 96.

On December 23, 2024, Italy ordered up to 24 new Typhoons to replace its oldest Tranche 1 jets. Janes reported 22 single-seat and two two-seat aircraft, with the first due in 2029, replacing 26 Tranche 1 fighters that retire by then. Leonardo says the new jets will serve “well beyond 2060.”

The Typhoons fly Italy’s quick reaction alert and most of its NATO air policing. Four of them took over the Baltic mission at Šiauliai, Lithuania, on July 31, 2026, Italy’s 11th rotation in the Baltic states.

2. F-35A and F-35B: The Stealth Fleet Italy Builds Itself

Italy’s planned F-35 Lightning II fleet is 115 jets: 75 F-35As and 40 F-35Bs. The Air Force gets all 75 As and 20 of the Bs, 95 in total, and the Navy gets the other 20 Bs. The order grew from 90 in 2024, and Lockheed Martin lists the extra 25 as added in 2025.

FlightGlobal counted 28 Air Force F-35s in front-line use plus three in training as of October 2025. Across both services, 40 had been delivered by January 2026, according to a Court of Auditors report covered by L’Indipendente, which put Italy’s spending on the program at €11.84 billion from 1998 to 2025.

The F-35As fly with the 32nd Wing at Amendola and the 6th Wing at Ghedi, where they replace the Tornado. The Air Force’s F-35Bs, built to operate from short runways, went to the reactivated 101st Squadron at Amendola on July 1, 2025.

Every Italian F-35 is assembled at Cameri, a plant owned by the Italian defense ministry and run by Leonardo with Lockheed Martin. It is one of only two F-35 final assembly lines outside the US, alongside Nagoya in Japan, and the only one outside the US that builds F-35Bs. It also builds jets for the Netherlands and Poland.

3. Panavia Tornado: The Last of the Swing-Wings

The Panavia Tornado flew Italy’s strike missions for more than 40 years. The 6th Wing at Ghedi held a ceremony in July 2025 to decommission the IDS strike version and its IDS-T trainers, and said a few jets with flying hours left could pass to the last Tornado squadron.

What survives is the Tornado ECR, built to find and destroy enemy air defense radars. FlightGlobal counted 12 ECRs in its 2026 directory, which also still listed 19 IDS jets from data drawn just after the ceremony.

The 155th Squadron at Ghedi is now the last Italian unit flying the type. There is no announced retirement date: estimates in the trade press run from about 2027 to 2030.

Italy’s other old attack jet is already gone. The AMX Ghibli light attack jet was retired at Istrana on April 5, 2024, after 35 years in service.

4. KC-767A and KC-130J: A Small Tanker Fleet About to Double

Italy’s long-range tankers are four Boeing KC-767As with the 14th Wing at Pratica di Mare, near Rome. The fleet passed 50,000 flight hours on July 20, 2026.

Four is not many for a force flying fighters over Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the Baltic. Italy planned to buy Boeing KC-46s in 2022, then halted the purchase in the summer of 2024, citing “changed and unforeseen needs.”

It went to Airbus instead. A contract for six new tankers, worth €1.393 billion before tax, was signed on April 16, 2026, and published on May 19. Every outlet identifies the type as the A330 MRTT, and no delivery dates have been released.

The Air Force also has four KC-130Js, Hercules transports fitted for aerial refueling.

5. E-550A and G550: The Business Jets That Watch and Listen

Italy’s airborne early warning aircraft are two E-550As, Gulfstream G550 business jets fitted with an Israeli radar by IAI’s ELTA division. A third was flight testing in Savannah, Georgia, in May 2026, and contracts signed in 2022 and 2023 point to five in total.

FlightGlobal also lists four G550s in an electronic warfare role and one King Air 350 for reconnaissance. The bigger plan is a family of up to 11 G550s for surveillance and signals intelligence. Its latest phase, running from 2024 to 2034, is worth €1.63 billion, according to ARES Difesa.

The most powerful of them will be the EA-37B Compass Call, a G550 that jams enemy communications and radar. L3Harris announced a $300 million contract for two in July 2025, the first sale of the type outside the US.

6. MQ-9A Reaper: The Drone Fleet Hit in Kuwait

Italy’s MQ-9A Reapers, which it calls the Predator B, fly with the 32nd Wing from Amendola and, in their newer Block 5 form, from Sigonella in Sicily, where the upgraded version was formally phased in on April 16, 2025.

On March 15, 2026, an Iranian drone strike on Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait destroyed one inside its shelter. The Aviationist described it as one of the six Predator Bs belonging to the 32nd Wing, which leaves about five.

On September 8, 2026, General Atomics announced an Italian order for two more Block 5 Reapers, due at the end of 2027. The older MQ-1 Predator retired on December 19, 2022, after more than 30,000 flight hours. Our comparison of the Reaper and the Predator explains what changed between them.

7. C-130J Hercules: The Airlift Workhorse

The 46th Air Brigade at Pisa flies Italy’s C-130J Super Hercules fleet, in both the standard length and the stretched C-130J-30. The type has served with the brigade since 2000.

Not all of them fly. The defense ministry described “about 20” in service in 2022, while FlightGlobal counts nine transports in day-to-day use plus the four KC-130J tankers.

Italy has not ordered a replacement, and the C-130J remains the largest airlifter in its fleet.

8. C-27J Spartan: The Home-Built Airlifter

The C-27J Spartan is Leonardo’s own twin-turboprop transport, and the Air Force flies 12 of them from Pisa and Pratica di Mare. Leonardo won a support contract for the fleet in December 2025.

Three are EC-27J electronic warfare aircraft, and FlightGlobal counts seven as transports. The Air Force also plans to field at least four MC-27J Praetorian gunship kits by 2030: mission systems rolled on and off existing airframes, with no extra C-27Js bought for the role.

9. P-72A: Hunting Submarines From Sicily

Four P-72As, maritime patrol versions of the ATR 72 turboprop airliner, fly from Sigonella in Sicily with the 41st Wing, which was renamed the 41st Wing and Antisubmarine Aviation on January 21, 2026.

The P-72A is a stopgap. Italy’s 2025 to 2027 defense plan lists a new program for six multirole maritime patrol aircraft, worth more than €500 million, with no type chosen yet.

10. M-346: The Trainer the World Comes to Fly

The Leonardo M-346, called the T-346A in Italian service, is the last jet a pilot flies before a front-line fighter. Italy bought 18 of its own, and FlightGlobal counts 27 at the International Flight Training School, which the Air Force runs with Leonardo.

The school began courses at Lecce-Galatina in June 2021 and moved its advanced phase to Decimomannu, Sardinia, in July 2022, where it has 22 M-346s. Leonardo says 15 countries have chosen it, and on September 8, 2025, it began training its first class of 10 US Air Force cadets.

Twenty more are coming. A defense ministry decision signed September 19, 2025, buys 20 T-346As: 15 for the Frecce Tricolori display team and five more for the flight school.

11. M-345 and MB-339: The Jet Trainers and the Frecce Tricolori

The Leonardo M-345, or T-345A, entered service with the 61st Wing at Galatina on June 12, 2025. Italy has ordered 18 against a requirement for up to 45, and FlightGlobal counted nine in use with eight still to come.

It replaces the Aermacchi MB-339, which entered service in 1979. European Security and Defence counted about 48 MB-339s still in service in June 2025, while FlightGlobal lists 25 in day-to-day training use.

The most famous MB-339s trail red, white and green smoke. The Frecce Tricolori, founded on March 1, 1961, at Rivolto, fly the MB-339PAN in a nine-ship formation plus a soloist, and 2027 is expected to be their last full season on it. The M-346 takes over from about 2028.

12. SF-260 and P.180: Where Pilots Start

Italian military pilots begin on the SF-260, a fast piston trainer designated T-260B, with the 70th Wing at Latina. FlightGlobal counts 29.

The fleet suffered a fatal crash on October 1, 2025, that killed the 70th Wing’s commander, Colonel Simone Mettini, and a student pilot. Italy has not announced a replacement for the SF-260.

FlightGlobal lists 10 Piaggio P.180 Avanti twin turboprops in the training fleet and six more as light transports, with seven newer Evo versions on order. The defense ministry says four are equipped to calibrate navigation aids.

13. HH-101A, HH-139 and TH-500: The Helicopters

The 12 HH-101A Caesars, an Italian version of the AW101 Merlin, fly combat search and rescue and support special operations. At Grazzanise, home of the 21st Squadron, they replaced the old HH-212, which made its last flight on February 22, 2024.

About 30 HH-139s, based on the AW139, fly search and rescue for the 15th Wing from Cervia and other bases, covering civilian emergencies as well as military ones.

Helicopter pilots learn on 37 TH-500Bs, the Italian-built version of the MD 500. Their school, the 72nd Wing, moved from Frosinone to Viterbo on January 15, 2026, and plans to replace the TH-500s with 30 AW169s.

14. A319CJ, G650ER and Falcons: The Government Fleet

The 31st Wing at Ciampino, Rome’s second airport, flies government leaders and urgent medical flights. Its largest jets are three Airbus A319CJs.

Its newest are four Gulfstream G650ERs, bought under a €330 million contract finalized in December 2024. The first two arrived on April 12, 2025, and they are replacing three Dassault Falcon 900s and the last Falcon 50s one for one.

The Nuclear Mission: Ghedi and Aviano

Italy is one of five NATO countries thought to host American B61 nuclear bombs. The Federation of American Scientists estimates about 100 are deployed at six European bases, two of them in Italy: Aviano and Ghedi.

Neither government confirms it. Under NATO’s nuclear sharing arrangement, Italian aircraft at Ghedi would carry those bombs in war, a mission flown for decades by the Tornado and now passing to the F-35A, with security upgrades under way at the base.

The 2026 Deployments: Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the Baltic

Italy sent four Typhoons to Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait during the 2026 Iran war. The Iranian drone strike there on March 15 destroyed an Italian Reaper and damaged one Typhoon, and three of the jets returned to Italy days later.

From the second half of March, a new detachment of four F-2000As, Task Force Air Arabia, operated from Taif in Saudi Arabia with an E-550A radar plane, a counter-drone system and about 400 Air Force personnel. The Aviationist reported no Italian air-to-air kills in the Gulf.

On the night of September 17 to 18, 2026, an attack on Taif hit an Italian F-2000 parked in an outlying area of the base. Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said no Italian personnel were involved, and the extent of the damage was not disclosed.

At the same time, Italian Typhoons were policing NATO’s eastern edge, where they shot down the two drones over Latvia and Lithuania. The wider picture of losses in the conflict is in our report on US aircraft lost or damaged in the Iran war.

The Next Fighter: GCAP With Britain and Japan

Italy’s Typhoon replacement is the Global Combat Air Programme, a sixth-generation fighter it is building with the UK and Japan. The design company, Edgewing, is owned in equal thirds by BAE Systems, Leonardo and Japan’s JAIEC.

Edgewing signed its first full contract, worth £4.6 billion and running 18 months, on July 3, 2026. The partners aim to fly a demonstrator in 2027 and put the fighter in service from 2035.

That puts Italy on the opposite side of Europe’s fighter split from France, which is building its next jet on its own, as our guide to the French Air Force explains.

From the First Air Raid to the Aeronautica Militare

Italy dropped the first bombs from an airplane in war. On November 1, 1911, during the Italo-Turkish War, Lieutenant Giulio Gavotti threw small grenades by hand from a Taube monoplane onto a Turkish camp at Ain Zara, in Libya.

The air arm became an independent service, the Regia Aeronautica, on March 28, 1923. It fought the Second World War with the aircraft in our guides to Italian fighter planes of WW2 and Italian bombers of WW2, and was renamed the Aeronautica Militare in 1946, when Italy became a republic.

The Frecce Tricolori are also remembered for the Ramstein air show in West Germany on August 28, 1988, when three of the team’s jets collided. The crash killed 70 people, 67 spectators and the three pilots.

Aviano: The US Air Force Base in Italy

Aviano Air Base, in Italy’s northeast, is the US Air Force’s main base in the country, but it is an Italian Air Force base under Italian command. The Italians call it Pagliano e Gori and keep their own commander there.

Its American tenant is the 31st Fighter Wing, which flies the F-16 Fighting Falcon with the 510th and 555th Fighter Squadrons. The wing calls itself the only US fighter wing south of the Alps. Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily is a US Navy base.

How Strong Is the Italian Air Force?

It ranks 13th in the world in the World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft’s 2026 ranking, with 411 aircraft and a score of 51.9. That puts it behind France, Britain and South Korea, and well ahead of Germany’s Luftwaffe in 19th.

Its strength is quality. It flies both F-35 versions, assembles its own, trains other nations’ fighter pilots and is building a fleet of G550 surveillance and jamming jets. Italy also reached NATO’s 2% spending target in 2025, according to preliminary NATO estimates, up from 1.52% in 2024.

Its weakness is support. Four long-range tankers and a small airlift fleet limit how far and how long it can fight, which is why the MRTT order matters. Our ranking of the best air forces in the world shows where that leaves Italy.

FAQ

What jets does the Italian Air Force use?

Its fighters are the Eurofighter Typhoon, with 88 in day-to-day use, and the F-35A and F-35B Lightning II, with 31 counted in October 2025. It also flies the Tornado ECR for radar suppression, the M-346 and M-345 jet trainers, and the MB-339 with the Frecce Tricolori display team.

Does Italy have F-35 fighter jets?

Yes. Italy plans 115 F-35s, 75 F-35As and 40 F-35Bs, of which 95 go to the Air Force and 20 to the Navy. About 40 had been delivered across both services by January 2026, and all of them are assembled at Cameri, near Milan.

How many fighter jets does Italy have?

FlightGlobal’s 2026 directory counts 88 Typhoons, 28 front-line F-35s and 19 Tornado IDS jets in Air Force service, plus 12 Tornado ECRs for electronic warfare. The Navy adds seven F-35Bs and 11 AV-8B Harriers. The Tornado IDS has since been stood down.

How many US Air Force bases are there in Italy?

The main one is Aviano Air Base, home of the 31st Fighter Wing and its two F-16 squadrons, the only US fighter wing south of the Alps. Aviano is formally an Italian Air Force base under Italian command. Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily is a US Navy base.

What is the Italian Air Force called?

The Aeronautica Militare. It was founded as an independent service, the Regia Aeronautica, on March 28, 1923, and took its current name in 1946, when Italy became a republic.

What plane do the Frecce Tricolori fly?

The Aermacchi MB-339PAN, flown in a nine-ship formation plus a soloist. Italy has ordered 15 M-346 jets to replace them, with 2027 expected to be the team’s last full season on the MB-339 and the M-346 arriving from about 2028.

How strong is the Italian Air Force?

The World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft ranks it 13th in the world in 2026, with 411 aircraft, behind France and Britain and ahead of Germany. Its strengths are its F-35 and Typhoon fleets and its electronic warfare jets; its weakness is a small tanker and airlift fleet.

What will replace the Eurofighter in Italy?

The Global Combat Air Programme, a sixth-generation fighter Italy is building with the UK and Japan through the company Edgewing. A £4.6 billion development contract was signed on July 3, 2026, and the partners aim to put the fighter in service from 2035.