Italian Air Force’s aerial campaign in the Indo-Pacific has begun

The Italian Air Force’s aerial campaign in the Indo-Pacific has officially begun. The first leg, from Pratica di Mare to Al Udeid, Qatar, marked the start of the deployment of the Armed Forces personnel to Australia for the international exercise Pitch Black 2024. The contingent consists of over 400 men and women and 15 aircraft, including both fighters and support planes; some of the latter are used solely for the complex transfer phase to and from Italy.

On June 30, the first leg saw the Italian contingent arrive in Qatar.

During this leg, we tracked: 2 Lockheed C-130J (reg. MM62191 and MM62195), 2 Boeing KC-767A (reg. MM62227 and MM62229), and 1 Gulfstream E.550 CAEW (reg. MM62293). Additionally, although not tracked, at least 4 Eurofigther F-2000A and 4 Lockheed Martin F-35A participated in the leg. It’s worth noting that two F-35B aircraft of the Air Force are also on the aircraft carrier ITS Cavour, which is also en route to the Far East.

The Air Force aircraft will participate in the Pitch Black 2024 (PBK24) exercise in Australia, the Rising Sun 2 exercise in Japan, and will train with the Navy in open waters.