ITALIAN AIR FORCE UNVEILS SPECIAL AMX LIVERY
Italian Air Force unveiled one of their AMX in a special colourful paint job to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of 103 Gruppo “Indians”.
On Wednesday, February 15th, the Italian Air Force (AM, Aeronautica Militare) celebrated at Istrana Air Base (Italy) the 80th Anniversary of the 103º Gruppo Caccia Bombardieri “Indians”. Despite the squadron being dismissed in 2016, a meeting of former members has been held at the Base to celebrate this occasion. Istrana is located in northern Italy, near the provincial capital Treviso and is home to the last unit which operates the ground-attack and reconnaissance aircraft.
This masterpiece special colour scheme has been designed and realized by Silvano Mainini, a former Italian Air Force airman. Thanks to his strong passion for aviation and great ability has created several liveries for the Italian airforce and lots of customized helmets for pilots.
AMX in flight over Istrana Air Base
The AMX is jointly developed by Brazil and Italy. The AMX (designated A-11 from 2006) is nicknamed "Ghibli" in the Italian Air Force and A-1 by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB, Força Aerea Brasileira). The Italian name Ghibli is taken from the hot dry wind in the Libyan desert.
Six prototypes were manufactured (one prototype MMX594 was lost in an accident), 136 examples (110 single and 26 twin-seat, the twin-seat called the AMX-T) were ordered by the Italian Air Force and 56 were ordered by the Brazilian Air Force. On 19 April 1989, the first AMX was officially delivered to the Italian Air Force. The Italian AMXs saw combat during the Allied Force in Serbia and Kosovo, operated over Afghanistan, supported Operation Inherent Resolve over Iraq and Syria and during the Air War over Libya.
In 2005, the AMI launched an upgrade programme (ACOL Aggionamento Capacità Operative e Logistiche – Operational and Logistical Capability Upgrade) for 55 of its AMXs adding a new laser Inertial Navigation System, new cockpit displays and allowing the aircraft to drop Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guided bombs.
AMX in flight over Istrana Air Base
The first operational squadron of the Italian air force, the 103° Gruppo of 51° Stormo formed in November 1989, with the first Italian unit also forming in 1989. Both the Italian and Brazilian AMX fleets were grounded in February 1992, following the crash of an Italian AMX due to engine failure. Operations were allowed to restart in May of that year, following the modification of the engines.
Italy assigned six AMXs from 103° Gruppo to operations over Bosnia in 1995 as part of Operation Deny Flight, which was followed by a similar deployment in support of the IFOR peacekeepers in Bosnia. This deployment was interrupted by another grounding, again due to engine failure, between January and March 1996. Italian AMX aircraft were used in 1999 in the Kosovo war. Instead of using unguided or more traditional laser-guided bombs, the Italian Air Force used dozens of Mk 82 bombs fitted with Opher Israeli guidance kits, effectively converting the "dumb" bombs into an infrared-guided bombs.
In the late 1990s, AMX International was considering a major engine refit; a non-afterburning variant of the Eurojet EJ200 was proposed, with considerably more thrust than the existing powerplant. In 2005, the Italian Air Force launched an upgrade programme (ACOL Aggionamento Capacità Operative e Logistiche – Operational and Logistical Capability Upgrade) for 55 of its AMXs, adding a new laser INS, new cockpit displays and allowing the aircraft to drop Joint Direct Attack Munition guided bombs. In August 2007, Embraer began a major midlife upgrade programme and modernisation of 53 Brazilian Air Force AMX A-1s, focusing on avionics systems and new armament additions; the programme is estimated to have extended the lifespan of the fleet beyond 2027.
