32º Stormo
32º Stormo “Armando Boetto” is the name of the 32nd squadron of the Italian Air Force . The squadron is stationed at the Amendola military airfield near Foggia ( Apulia ) and equipped with drones and F-35A combat aircraft .
assignment
The squadron takes on tasks in the areas of reconnaissance and close air support with its drones . It is also the training and operations center for the drones of the Italian Air Force. The F-35A are currently being introduced and are therefore primarily used to train and prepare for operational readiness in a multi-purpose role. The squadron is subordinate to the air fleet command in Rome , the operational management is carried out either by the Comando delle Operazioni Aeree - COA in Poggio Renatico near Ferrara or, in the case of missions abroad, by operational commandos or by commanders on site.
organization
The 32nd squadron has three flying groups in Season strength . The 13º Gruppo has been equipped with the F-35A since 2016. The 28º Gruppo is equipped with MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper drones . Until 2017, it had an advanced base at the Sicilian military airfield Sigonella , where in July 2017 the 61º Gruppo with Predator drones was formed as the third flying unit . In addition to Predators and Reapers , the squadron will also receive the P.1 HH Hammerhead , an unmanned version of the Piaggio P.180 .
The squadron also includes various technical and logistical units and a training center. It also has some small helicopters and liaison planes.
history
Lineup
The 32nd Squadron was set up on December 1, 1936 in Cagliari-Elmas in Sardinia . It consisted of two bomber groups of two squadrons each: the 38º Gruppo ( 49ª, 50ª Squadriglia ) in Aviano and the 89º Gruppo ( 228ª, 229ª Squadriglia ) in Forlì . On February 24, 1937, the two groups came to Cagliari-Elmas with their Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 , where they were trained for missions over the Mediterranean . From 1938 to 1939 the 89º Gruppo flew from the Alghero airfield in northern Sardinia . In 1939 the squadron received new SM.79 bombers . Shortly before Italy's entry into World War II on June 10, 1940, the squadron was stationed at the Decimomannu military airfield near Cagliari . Together with the 8 bomber squadrons in Villacidro and 31 in Elmas , it formed the 10th Marte Air Brigade in Sardinia under the command of the 38-year-old Brigadier General Stefano Cagna.
Second World War
On June 12, 1940, 24 SM.79s of the 32nd Squadron attacked the French naval port of Bizerta in Tunisia , followed by attacks on Corsica and later on Gibraltar . From there on 8 July 1940, the British naval squadron ran Force H with the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and the battlecruiser HMS Hood made to shoot at Italian targets, but fell the following day around 30 nautical miles south of the Balearic Islands in a bombardment of the 8th and 32nd Squadron. The British contradicted Italian reports that the Hood , the Ark Royal and three destroyers had been badly damaged, but Admiral Sommerville and his Force H immediately returned to Gibraltar. In the following August General Stefano Cagna fell at the head of his air brigade near the Balearic Islands. On November 27, 1940, the two squadrons of the 10th Air Brigade intervened in the sea battle at Cape Teulada and narrowly missed the Ark Royal . This was followed by several other missions against British convoys trying to reach the island of Malta . During one of these missions on May 8, 1941, the squadron captain of the 49ª Squadriglia ( 38º Gruppo ), Captain Armando Boetto, after whom the 32nd squadron is named to this day, fell. Despite all efforts, the balance sheet of the first year of the war remained poor, also because the relatively small Italian aerial bombs could not cause any major damage.
In September 1941, the 32nd Squadron moved from Decimomannu to Bologna-Borgo Panigale in northern Italy, where it took a break and converted to the new SM.84 . The 38º Gruppo continued to use bombs, while the 89º Gruppo became a torpedo bomber formation. On May 24, 1942, it was transferred to the southern Italian military airfield Gioia del Colle , from where operations were flown over the central Mediterranean. In August 1942, the 32nd Squadron took part in the attacks on the British Pedestal Convoy . In November 1942 the squadron returned to Sardinia (Villacidro), in January 1943 it came to Lecce-Galatina , where it gave up the 89º Gruppo and received the 43º Gruppo with its Caproni Ca.314 . On January 27, 1943, the 32nd squadron was disbanded, but the two groups operated independently for a few months.
Re-installation with the G.91
24 years after the dissolution, on September 10, 1967, the 32nd Squadron was re-established at the Brindisi military airfield . It was the only flying unit to receive from the 2nd Squadron from Treviso its 13º Gruppo with light fighter planes of the type Fiat G.91 R, from 1973 the twin-engine G.91Y. As a reminder of the squadron's maritime role in World War II, the aircraft were decorated with a shark's mouth on the air inlet, which made them famous beyond Italy. In 1993 the 32nd Squadron moved to Foggia-Amendola and took over two training squadrons there for two years with the two-seater G.91T. Thus it was the only squadron of the Italian Air Force that had all three main versions of the G.91 in its inventory.
The Aeronautica Militare put a total of almost 300 G.91s into service from 1959. Some of the 27 pre-series machines went to the Frecce Tricolori aerobatic team in Rivolto as G.91PAN , others were brought to series standard and went to the task forces as G.91R. For Italy 23 G.91R / 1 followed, then 25 slightly improved G.91R / 1A and 50 G.91R / 1B. 99 series machines of the two-seat advanced trainer G.91T were procured for the flight school in Foggia-Amendola. The 67 twin-engine G.91Y formed the end of the line until 1974.
The following Italian units and units were equipped with the G.91:
| Military airfield | squadron | Seasons | Versions | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pratica di Mare | RSV | 311 | G.91R, G.91T, G.91Y | Flight test center |
| Treviso | 2nd Stormo | 14, 103 | G.91R | Commissioned March 14, 1961 |
| Cervia | 8º Stormo | 101 | G.91R, G.91Y | G.91Y from 1970 |
| Brindisi | 32º Stormo | 13 | G.91R, G.91Y (G.91T) | from 1993 in Amendola, G.91T there |
| Amendola | 60ª Brigata Aerea | 201, 204, 205 | G.91T | Acquired in 1993 by 32º Stormo |
| Rivolto | - | 313 | G.91PAN | 1963 to 1982 |
The 2nd squadron consisted of squadrons 8, 13 and 14, the 5th squadron in Rimini-Miramare , not mentioned here, consisted of squadrons 101, 102 and 103, which had flown the Junkers Ju 87 , among others, during World War II . In the course of the introduction of the G.91, the individual squadrons changed positions, which can be seen in the table above. The 8th and 32nd squadrons, which had operated from Sardinia as part of the 10th Air Brigade during World War II, now had the common feature that they were both stationed on the Adriatic , each had a relatively large squadron on G.91Y and also shared the tasks: reconnaissance over land and sea, combat against sea targets (to a limited extent) and close air support. The protection of the Adriatic coast from hostile sea, airborne or commandos as well as the securing of the Adriatic accesses were in the foreground during the Cold War . The G.91 trainers from Amendola would have provided support if necessary. The G.91R in Treviso in northeast Italy concentrated entirely on reconnaissance and close air support, the G.91 PAN of the Frecce Tricolori also played a role in this area. In this form, the G.91 supplemented the F-104 Starfighter for a long time .
The G.91s of the 32nd Squadron carried out air-to-ground missions on the Punta della Contessa firing range near Brindisi , otherwise from Decimomannu on the Capo Frasca firing range in Sardinia. A high point in post-war history was the discovery of the Soviet aircraft carrier Kiev, wanted in the Mediterranean, by a G.91Y of 101º Gruppo, which was later taken over by the 32nd Squadron.
AMX and drones
From 1993 the 32nd Squadron from Amendola continued its previous tasks with the 13º Gruppo on G.91Y, in addition the 201º and 204º Gruppo were taken over from the disbanded training association 60ª Brigata Aerea and further trained pilots. The advanced training on the G.91T was completely abandoned two years later because a new version of the Aermacchi MB-339 jet trainer was introduced in Lecce . At the same time, the 32nd Squadron converted to new AMX fighter aircraft . The disbanded 8th Squadron from Cervia received the 101º Gruppo , which was equipped with two-seat AMX trainers, while the 13º Gruppo received the single seaters.
From the AMX, which was supposed to complement the heavier (and more expensive) tornadoes as a light fighter-bomber , the Italian Air Force originally wanted to procure a total of 238 machines, including 51 two-seat trainers for the flight school in Amendola. Thanks to the new MB-339CD Lead-in Fighter Trainer , on the one hand far fewer AMX / Ts were needed for retraining to just one type of aircraft, on the other hand, the end of the Cold War made many of the planned 187 single-seaters superfluous. In the end, 110 AMX single-seaters and 26 two-seaters were procured for the following units and units of the Italian Air Force:
| Military airfield | squadron | Seasons | Versions | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pratica di Mare | RSV | 311 | AMX, AMX / T | Flight test center |
| Rivolto | 2nd Stormo | 14th | AMX | 1993 from Treviso to Rivolto |
| Verona-Villafranca | 3º Stormo | 28, 132 | AMX | Disbanded in 1999, 132º Gruppo to Istrana |
| Foggia-Amendola | 32º Stormo | 13, 101 | AMX. AMX / T | 101 from Cervia ( 8º Stormo ) (1995) |
| Istrana | 51º Stormo | 101, 103, 132 | AMX, AMX / T | 101 from Amendola (2014), 103 from Treviso, 132 from Verona |
| Treviso | 3º RMV | AMX, AMX / T | Aircraft maintenance |
After a few years, the AMX of the first construction lot and also the 3rd squadron in Verona with its 28º Gruppo were decommissioned, in 2002 the AMX squadron in Rivolto, so that only the two AMX squadrons 51 in Istrana and 32 in Amendola remained.
After the conversion was completed, the 32nd Squadron took part in Operation Deliberate Guard over Bosnia and Herzegovina from December 1997 , and in the spring of 1999 in Operation Allied Force against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ( Kosovo War ). For the final operation, all the other Italian AMX squadrons sent aircraft to the Foggia-Amendola airfield, which in this case was quite conveniently located, and they were all subordinate to the 32nd squadron there. In 1999, parts of the 32nd took part in the Bright Star exercise in Egypt , followed by a visit to Israel . In 2001, the 32nd Squadron sent AMX fighter jets for the first time to a training exercise in Goose Bay, Canada .
In the course of the introduction of drones, the Italian Air Force selected the Amendola airfield and the 32nd squadron there as the center for the development of this new operational component. On March 1, 2002, a drone squadron was created there with the first Predators , which on February 1, 2005 was named 28º Gruppo . This revived the reconnaissance squadron, which was disbanded in Verona in 1999. Until 2014, both the drones and the AMX of the 32nd Squadron were deployed in Afghanistan , in 2011 also over Libya as part of Operation Unified Protector . In the following years the 28º Gruppo maintained an advanced base on the Sicilian military airfield Sigonella for missions in the central Mediterranean area and over Libya . The 61º Gruppo , equipped with Predators and still subordinate to the 32nd Squadron in Amendola, emerged from the unit in Sigonella in July 2017 .
Due to the planned introduction of the Lockheed Martin F-35 and the necessary conversion work in Amendola, the 13º Gruppo , a fighter-bomber and reconnaissance squadron, equipped with single-seat AMX , was disbanded in December 2013 . In July 2014, the 32nd Squadron also gave the 101º Gruppo with the two-seater AMX-T to the 51st Squadron in Istrana , which ended the AMX era in Amendola.
F-35
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The first F-35A built in Cameri, northern Italy , relocated to the USA in February and May 2016 with the registration number of the 32nd squadron. It was the first transatlantic flight of the F-35. At Luke Air Force Base , the aircraft are used to train pilots.
In June 2016, the 13º Gruppo was reactivated in preparation for the takeover of the F-35A in Amendola. The first two aircraft of this type arrived in Amendola on December 12, 2016.
See also
Web links
- Official websites
- 32º Stormo on flyinglions.eu
- First F-35A in the colors of the 32º Stormo in Cameri, aviation-report.com
literature
- Petacco, Arrigo: Le battaglie navali del Mediterraneo nella seconda guerra mondiale . Mondadori, Milan 1976, ISBN 9788804424123 .
- Rocca, Gianni: I disperati - la tragedia dell'aeronautica italiana nella seconda guerra mondiale . Mondadori, Milan 1991, ISBN 8804338261 .
Remarks
- ↑ Stormo literally means "swarm" and originally referred only to flocks of birds
- ↑ Italian and German squadrons are officially divided into groups and squadrons . In Italy, the number of aircraft in a group fell to 18 to 12 aircraft over the course of time, which is why the Italian term group is now equated with squadron or squadron .
- ^ ARIS: HammerHead shown in Italian air force livery, Flightglobal, June 16, 2015
- ↑ Boetto was shot down by aircraft belonging to HMS Ark Royal , which, together with Force H, protected the British escort WS-8 ( Operation Tiger ) from Gibraltar to Alexandria. Boetto received the highest Italian military award ( Medaglia d'Oro al Valor Militare - MOVM) .
- ↑ PAN is the abbreviation for Pattuglia Acrobatica Nazionale or "National Aerobatic Patrol" and stands for the Frecce Tricolori aerobatic team . The G.91PAN was actually not a separate version. The cameras at the bow and the on-board cannons were removed and smoke generators were installed.
- ↑ Reparto Sperimentale di Volo (RSV) , German "Flight test unit"
- ↑ The 8º Gruppo went to Pratica di Mare and took on special tasks there. The group now had relay status.
- ↑ 3º Reparto Manutenzione Velivoli , German “3. Aircraft maintenance unit ". No own AMX, only there for a major overhaul .
- ^ Italiano il primo F-35 che completa volo oltreoceano. difesa.it, February 8, 2016
- ↑ F-35: seconda trasvolata da Cameri agli USA. difesa.it, May 18, 2016
- ↑ Italy has become the first country to operate the F-35 outside of the US theaviationist.com, December 15, 2016