31º Stormo

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A319CJ of 31º Stormo landing in Luxembourg

31º Stormo “Carmelo Raiti” is the name of the 31st squadron of the Italian Air Force . This relatively small air transport association forms the flight readiness of the Italian government. The 31st Squadron is stationed in the military section of Rome Ciampino Airport.

tasks

The squadron handles flight operations for the highest state organs in accordance with the guidelines set by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers . In principle, the following are entitled to use the planes and helicopters: the President , the Presidents of the two chambers of Parliament , the Prime Minister and the President of the Constitutional Court . In other cases, government approval must be obtained as required in accordance with the guidelines mentioned. The machines are made available to the Pope when he travels in Italy . At the request of the prefectures , other government agencies and rescue organizations, the squadron also takes on the transport of sick people and donated organs, as well as people in special emergency situations. The rest of the flight operations are used for training or air transport within the armed forces , unless the latter can or should not be carried out by air transport associations in Pisa and Pratica di Mare or by other units.

Organization and equipment

In terms of troops, the 31st Squadron is subordinate to the Air Transport and Support Command of the Air Fleet Command in Rome-Centocelle . It receives operational orders from the Presidium of the Council of Ministers, the General Staff of the Air Force or from the Air Force Operations Command in Poggio Renatico . The squadron consists of two flying squadrons , the 93º Gruppo and the 306º Gruppo , which are equipped with three Airbus A319CJs , three Dassault Falcon 900EX / EASy and two Falcon 50s as well as two AgustaWestland AW139 helicopters . Two more AW139 and two Piaggio P.180 are (or were temporarily) operated on behalf of the civil defense .

Released military pilots of the 31st squadron are in the service of the Ciampino-based Compagnia Aeronautica Italiana (CAI) , an Italian intelligence company . The CAI aircraft (four Falcon 900s, one P.180) have civil registration and are occasionally used by members of the Italian government. The CAI is sometimes viewed as a kind of offshoot of the 31st Squadron.

Ensign of the 31º Stormo of the Italian Air Force.png

Association badge and call sign

The coat of arms of the 31st squadron shows the Pleiades as well as a connection between the eagle of the Italian Air Force and the bow of the ship Argo from the Argonauts legend .

Flying units of the Italian Air Force use the ICAO code IAM of Aeronautica Militare and the callsign Italian Air Force with four-digit numbers according to the pattern IAM 3101. The first two digits stand for the respective squadron (here: 31st), the two last for the flight (or for the last two digits of the military registration number of the aircraft used). If the President is on board, the call sign is Italian Air Force 9001 (flight number IAM 9001), in the case of the Prime Minister it is 9002, in the case of the Presidents of the two chambers of parliament it is 9003 and 9004. This deviates from the above system (a 90th squadron does not exist in Italy). Other flights of the squadron such as medical flights begin with the usual 31.

history

The history of the squadron goes back to the sea ​​airfield of Orbetello and the long-haul flights of the Minister of Aviation Italo Balbo , who crossed the Atlantic with larger aircraft formations in 1930 and 1933. In 1930, the 93º Gruppo, the historical core of the squadron, was established in Orbetello, as well as the so-called “High Sea Aviation School” (Scuola di navigazione aerea d'alto mare) . Since you wanted to use the valuable experience of long-haul flights militarily, was adjusted on 1 October 1933 Orbetello the so-called "Seebomber attempt Squadron" (Stormo sperimentale since Bombardamento marittimo) on which on 1 January 1936 in 31º Stormo because Bombardamento marittimo renamed . It consisted of the 93º Gruppo (196ª, 197ª Squadriglia) and the 94º Gruppo (198ª, 199ª Squadrigila), which were initially equipped with flying boats of the Savoia-Marchetti S.55 and S62 type, and from 1937 with CRDA Cant Z. .501 and from 1939 with CRDA Cant Z.506 . During the Second World War the squadron operated from Cagliari-Elmas and with parts (199ª Sqd.) Also from Oristano-Santa Giusta . It was used from Sardinia mainly for reconnaissance tasks , but also for bombing missions and anti- submarine hunting . High losses among the clumsy flying boats led to the disbandment of the squadron on November 5, 1940. However, the 93º Gruppo and the 199ª Squadriglia remained, which were renamed the 287ª Squadriglia. The latter lost around 70 percent of its flying personnel in the further course. Five of their fallen were posthumously awarded the gold medal for bravery , including the gunner Carmelo Raiti, who died on April 3, 1941 over the western Mediterranean, after whom the 31st Squadron is named today.

The history of the squadron after the Second World War consists of two different lines of tradition. On February 1, 1953, the helicopter flight school of the Italian Air Force, which was equipped with three Bell 47s and two Westland Dragonfly and also took on liaison and rescue tasks , was established on the Rome-Urbe airfield . In 1955 this helicopter flying school moved to the Frosinone military airfield , where it is still located. In Rome-Urbe, however, a sub-unit for transport and rescue tasks remained, which was transferred to Rome-Centocelle with the troop flag of 31º Stormo entrusted to it until 1960, then to Pratica di Mare near Rome in 1963. Further expansion in Pratica di Mare led to the re-establishment of the 31º Stormo as a helicopter squadron by March 1, 1965. Its 93º and 94º Gruppo flew different versions of the Agusta - Bell AB-47 and AB-204 . In addition to the tasks already mentioned, they also took on the promotion of high-ranking politicians if necessary. The squadron received high awards for various rescue missions, including the flood in Florence in 1966 . After the 94º Gruppo had been dissolved in 1975, in 1977 the 31st squadron was assigned the 306º Gruppo stationed in Rome-Ciampino with its commercial aircraft. Since the squadron had now completely taken over the role of the government's flight readiness, the 93º Gruppo and the rest of the squadron moved to Ciampino.

The history of the 306º Gruppo can be traced back to the General Staff's readiness for flight (Reparto Volo Stato Maggiore) , which was set up in Rome-Centocelle in 1925 and which was set up again on April 1, 1946 in Rome-Urbe. At that time, this unit had a Fiat G.212 , a Douglas C-47 , four Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 , two Fiat G.12 and two Savoia-Marchetti SM.75 . On September 1, 1952, this unit and parts of other training and transport squadrons formed the 306º Gruppo, with the Reparto Volo Stato Maggiore (aircraft registration SM) retained as the superordinate body. In 1957 flight readiness moved to Rome-Ciampino Airport, where it was temporarily merged with a training unit from 1959 to 1963 (aircraft registration number ZR). From 1963 the flight readiness consisted of two flying units, the 302º and the 306º Gruppo, which were equipped with Convair CV-440 , Douglas C-47, C-53 and DC-6B . In 1970, the Piaggio PD.808 was joined by some jet-powered business aircraft for the first time, followed by two Douglas DC-9 -32s in 1974 . In 1977 the 302º Gruppo was dissolved and the 306º Gruppo placed under the 31st Squadron, which ended the history of the Reparto Volo Stato Maggiore . At that time, the 93º Gruppo had a total of 20 helicopters, including two new Agusta-Sikorsky ASH-3D / TS (mainly used by the Pope), and the 306º Gruppo 17 aircraft: three CV-440s, four DC-6Bs, eight PD .808 and two DC-9-32.

Shortly after the unification, all other helicopters (AB-47, AB-204) were given up except for the two "Pope helicopters" and then the CV-440 and the DC-6 were also decommissioned in the following years. Thanks to additional tanks, the remaining DC-9s could also cross the Atlantic if necessary, but only with stopovers in Ireland , Newfoundland and Labrador or on the Azores . When there was a particular need, the Italian government chartered Alitalia aircraft for such long-haul flights . In 1985 two Gulfstream IIIs and four Dassault Falcon 50s took over the duties of the PD.808. In 2000, the two DC-9s were replaced by two (later three) Airbus A319CJs with intercontinental range. At the same time, new Falcon 900s replaced the two Gulfstream IIIs and initially two Falcon 50s. In 2012, the two aged SH-3D helicopters finally retired from active service, and two smaller AW139s took their place. Two more AW139s and two Piaggio P.180s have been in operation since 2012 on behalf of the civil defense , the two helicopters being loaned to a flying school in Frosinone , while the P.180 temporarily moved from Pratica di Mare to Ciampino.

In 2010, the Italian government planes completed around 10,000 flight hours. Because of the euro crisis and drastic austerity measures, the use of government machines became the focus of public criticism. Some politicians switched to the more inconspicuous Piaggio P.180 of the Air Force (Pratica di Mare) and other authorities. The Italian government then tightened the conditions of use, which reduced the number of flight hours to around 5,000 in 2013. Attempts to sell one of the three A319CJs and two of five Falcon 900s were unsuccessful. At the end of 2016, two Falcon 900EXs were handed over to Compagnia Aeronautica Italiana (CAI), the "airline of the secret services". In this particular case, attention was drawn to the possibility of circumventing the regulations for the use of government aircraft.

Airbus A340-500 (I-TALY), in service to the Italian government from 2015 to 2018

From October 2015 to August 2018, the Italian government leased an Airbus A340-500 from Etihad Airways . This long-haul aircraft, stationed at Rome-Fiumicino Airport , was painted in the style of the machines of the 31st Squadron, but received a civil aircraft registration . The crews came from the 31st Squadron, maintenance was carried out by Alitalia , and major overhauls by Etihad. Compared to the aircraft of the 31st squadron, the wing's coat of arms and the words Aeronautica Militare were missing . The leasing contract came about on the initiative of then Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and was heavily criticized by the opposition. After the parliamentary elections in Italy in 2018 , the Conte government immediately terminated the leasing contract.

Web links

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stormo literally means "swarm" and originally referred only to flocks of birds. The small circle at 31º stands for an o and thus for the ordinal number (31.) and its shape corresponds to the English 31st (31ª, if followed by a feminine noun).
  2. ↑ Details on airframes.org . The Compagnia Aeronautica Italiana should not be confused with the Compagnia Aerea Italiana (Alitalia). Aircraft inventory 2019: 2 Falcon 900LX (I-DIEM, I-NEMO), 2 Falcon 900EX (I-OUNI, I-TARH; both with the 31st squadron until 2016), 1 P.180 (I-DARC)
  3. ↑ Aircraft Operators Database Lookup on airframes.org
  4. ↑ Two brand new DC-9-32s (no mil. C-9s) with VIP equipment (45 pax): c / n 47595/709, MM 62012 (31-12), in service from January 19, 1974 to May 2001 , later in FCO for Alitalia cabin crew training, exhibited in Volandia since 2016 ; c / n 47600/710, MM 62013 (31-13; with additional tanks), in service from March 18, 1974 to February 8, 1999, damaged, written off and scrapped by Russian Ilyushin Il-96 in Moscow-Vnukowo . Details on planespotters.net
  5. ↑ Examples of the relatively infrequent use of Alitalia machines: President Giovanni Gronchi used a DC-8 for his South American trip in 1961 ( details on manualedivolo.it ), Sandro Pertini used a DC-10 for his trip to the USA in 1982 . From 1985 the Gulfstreams and Falcons of the 31º Stormo also flew long-haul flights (e.g. via Shannon ). The Boeing 707 T / T and KC-767 stationed in Pratica di Mare (14º Stormo) were never intended for VIP flights (air refueling, material and troop transport).
  6. ↑ In 2000 two A319CJs with the military registration numbers MM 62173 and MM 62174 were taken over. In 2003 a third machine with the registration number MM 62209 was added. In 2005 the MM 62173 was sold to the Turkish government and replaced by a new A319CJ, MM 62243. Details on airframes.org (enter the MM code mentioned there)
  7. ↑ Since the Italian company Leonardo-Finmeccanica is involved in the production of Dassault's business jets, they stayed loyal to the Falcons for decades ( details on leonardocompany.com ).
  8. ↑ On the AW139 and the P.180, which are operated for civil defense, the writing Aeronautica Militare can be seen and not Repubblica Italiana , as is usually the case with the machines of the 31st Squadron. The dates of the repeated changes of the four civil defense machines between Ciampino, Frosinone and Pratica di Mare are omitted here; The link below shows the change of the squadron coat of arms : P.180 MM62286
  9. ↑ Revisione del trasporto aereo di Stato, Segretariato generale della presidenza del consiglio dei ministri, 2013 on Il Sole 24 Ore , accessed on August 21, 2014
  10. ↑ La Repubblica, March 9, 2017
  11. ↑ A340-541, c / n 748, 2006 as A6-EHA to Etihad Airways, from February 2016 I-TALY ( details at airframes.org ).
  12. ↑ Stop all "Air Force Renzi", Alitalia scioglie il contratto . corriere.it, August 18, 2018