The Meloni government and the training of Ukrainian pilots: "We will evaluate". Sardinia among the options?
The G7 leaders open up the possibility of giving support to Kiev for the leadership of the F-16 fighters (which Italy does not have). General Tricarico: «The Aermacchi Mb339 and M346 Master present on the island could be an alternative»
An M 346 fighter (Photo Leonardo)
The G7 opens up to the training of Ukrainian military aviation pilots and even the military bases of Sardinia could become part of the training centres.
Only an option, at the moment, as Italy has not yet decided whether and how to give its availability and also because on the island - and in Italy in general - there are no F-16s , the type of fighter at the center of the support project that the allied countries of Kiev intend to start.
It was the President of the United States Joe Biden who communicated, during the last summit of the Big 7 in Hiroshima , Japan, the possibility of "a joint effort with allies and partners to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth generation aircraft, including the F-16s".
Biden himself specified that the training should not take place in the United States and will probably take place entirely in Europe.
This morning the confirmation of the EU foreign policy representative Josep Borrell : «The training of Ukrainian pilots for the F-16 has already begun in many countries , such as Poland. This will take time but the sooner you start the better. At the beginning there is discussion, the countries are reluctant, as for the Leopards, but in the end it gets there. And it is a further measure to ensure that Ukraine can defend itself".
As for Italy, "we do not have F16s so we can hardly participate in the project: there is talk of a possible training of Ukrainian pilots, a decision that we have not yet made and that we are evaluating with the allies ", explained the premier instead, Giorgia Meloni.
General Leonardo Tricarico , former Chief of Staff of the Air Force, instead explained in an interview with Corriere della Sera: «Giorgia Meloni clarified that no decision has yet been taken, but there will be an "evaluation with the allies". However, there is one fact: we no longer have these aircraft, which were returned to the USA in May 2012 due to the expiry of the lease after having been in service since June 2003. Our country could still provide flight personnel and ground technical assistance in one of the bases of the NATO nations that still use them: Holland, Denmark, Portugal, Poland and Turkey. The training could be organized there, with the collaboration of Italian instructors».
Or, Tricarico underlines, a second option could be to train the Ukrainians in the Italian centers of excellence in Lecce and Cagliari, but on Aermacchi Mb339 and M346 Master.
On 11 May the "International Flight Training School" was inaugurated in Decimomannu with 22 M 346 Advanced Jet Trainers aircraft, 40 instructors, 2 Full mission simulators.
A "campus" of over 35,000 square meters covered over an area of over 130,000 where military pilots from various nations will train, recently joined by those of the British Royal Air Force .
«Italy can play its part more and better than others, in the coalition created to help the Ukrainians acquire F-16s. In particular , Meloni, by giving Italian willingness to train pilots, correctly interprets one of the qualities in which our country excels: training », said Tricarico himself.
(Unioneonline/lf)
