The sky of Milan is preparing to host the Frecce Tricolori, which today, October 1, 2025, will fly over the Lombard capital to celebrate the 100 years of the presence of the Italian Air Force in the city: around 13:00 the planes of the national acrobatic patrol (Pan) will also fly over the Cathedral of Milan. But what functions does the Air Force performs and, above all, how many means do you have the fourth armed force of the Italian state available?
Its main function is to guarantee the safety and the defense of our country by carrying out the check and the surveillance of the national airspace, but also of the Euro-Atlantic and Euro-Mediterranean one, being Italy a NATO Member State. According to the report World Air Forces 2025, Italy has 689 air vehicles in total, divided between combat, training, transport and those dedicated to special missions. Overall, Italy occupies 9th place globally for the number of combat helicopters (350, about 2% of the world fleet), and the 10th per number of Tanker, i.e. planes used for the refueling of fuel in flight (8 in total, equal to 1% of the world fleet).
Update at 13:00 on 1 October: the Frecce Tricolori should have performed today, October 1, on the occasion of the 100 years of the presence of the Air Force in Milan. However, the flight was canceled due to the accident that this morning involved a T-260b military plane in Latina and caused the death of the two drivers on board.
What is the Italian military aeronautics that will fly to Milan with the Frecce Tricolori
The Italian Air Force (AMI) deals with the safety and the defense of our country guaranteeing the check and the surveillance of the national airplane, the Euro-Atlantic and Euro-Mediterranean one, being Italy’s member. Our aeronautics also takes part in international missions and performs research and rescue functions, assistance in the event of natural disasters and training and research activities in the space and aerospace sector: together with the army, the Navy and the Carabinieri, one of the four armed forces of our country and operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year is.
Its organizational structure is made up of three high commands: the command of the aerial team, which performs the training/operational function, the logistical command, which deals with the logistics of the operations, and the command of the schools, which performs a training function. From a hierarchical point of view, however, the command of the armed force is entrusted to the Chief of Staff, which is currently the aerial team general Antonio preserved.
How many aircraft has the Italian military aeronautics and which are
But, in practice, what and how many vehicles are available to the Italian Air Force? According to the dossier World Air Forces 2025 of Flight International, what is defined as Italian Air Force It has a fleet of 689 air vehicles, to which 77 other already ordered will be added.
Specifically, the report distinguishes between:
- Combat planes, divided into Eurofighter (89), F-35a/B (23, with another 50 in order), Tornado IDS (27). The Eurofighter, in particular, is the most advanced combat plane developed in the European continent: it is an interceptor hunt (therefore of defense of the airspace) capable of flying at a higher speed than that of sound without the use of the post burner, allowing a great fuel savings.
- Refueling and transport planes, including the Tanker Lockheed Martin KC-130 (4), the C-130J transport four-turboelic (9) and the Boeing KC-767A (4). The C-130J “Super Hercules” is among the most used transport planes by the Italian Air Force outside the national borders and is able to carry out landings and assault dose from semi -ipied and small slopes.
- Combat helicopters, divided into AW101 (12) and AW139/M (30). The latter, in particular, is also used for rescue, firefighting operations and for public security missions.
- Training planes and helicopters, including M-345 (3, plus 14 in order), MB-339 (48), MD500 (38) stand out. The Aermacchi MB-339, in particular, in addition to being used as an advanced trainer, is also the tricolor arrow plane (officially pan, national acrobatic patrol) given its great maneuverability.
- Special missions aircraft, such as the ATR-72MP (4), the Tornado ECR (13) and the C-27J (3). The Tornado Ecr (Electronic Combat Reconnaissance) is a specialized variant of the Tornado and specifically designed for electronic war missions: its function is to disturb enemy radar systems, putting communications and enemy aerial defenses in difficulty.
Our country, among other things, occupies 9th place globally for the number of combat helicopters (350, about 2% of the world fleet), but it is also the 10th country in the world by number of Tanker, i.e. planes used for the refueling of fuel in flight (8 in total, equal to 1% of the world fleet).
From what the tricolor arrows exist and that planes use
The Frecce Tricolori, whose official name is 313rd acrobatic training group, were born in the sixties with the task of giving prestige to the Italian military Air Force and to play a role of representation during official ceremonies, both in our country and abroad: they are part of the national acrobatic patrol (PAN) and are now famous all over the world for their drugs.
Since 1982 the formation of arrows has made up of ten Aermacchi MB-339 planes (nine for training and a soloist) which, as mentioned above, are part of the training planes. One of the most fascinating aspects is that all maneuvers are completed by eye, therefore without particular proximity detectors or automatic drivers systems. To achieve such a level of synchrony, hundreds of training hours are needed and also for this reason, being an arrow is considered a huge pride in the field of international Air Force.
During their flight, the arrows tinge of greenery, white and red (the colors of the flag of Italy) the skies of the cities that fly over: the Aermacchi MB-339 are in fact equipped with a special smoke system, which allows the launch of smoking for dispersion. From the information released by the Air Force, we know that this smoke is composed of vaseline oil and a series of colored pigments, used to create green and red. However, industrial secret has been imposed on the exact formulation of the mixture.
