Hungary signs agreement to train combat pilots in Italy

Italian Air Force T-346A advanced Trainer Aircraft.

The Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force, General Luca Goretti, and the Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Hungarian Defence Forces, Lieutenant General Ferenc Kajári, signed "remotely" a technical agreement on the training of military pilots, on September 12, 2024.

The agreement provides for Hungary to send military pilots to Italy to participate in flight training courses at both basic level (Phases 2 and 3 at the 61st Wing/Galatina Air Base) and advanced level (Phase 4 at the 212th Group IFTS/Decimomannu Air Base). It also provides for the training of Hungarian instructor pilots, including advanced level.

Hungary thus joins the growing group of countries that have chosen to train their military pilots in Italy, attracted by the excellent training proposal of the Italian Air Force. Other participating countries include Austria, Canada, Germany, Japan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Sweden.

The agreement will be indefinite. The first Hungarian attendees are expected to arrive in October.

"I am very happy to sign this agreement and to be able to say to our Hungarian friends ‘Welcome on board’. The International Flight Training School is a project that we launched a few years ago, starting very cautiously, which is becoming bigger and more relevant, as evidenced by the many success stories that are accompanying its development. The IFTS is proving to be the ideal ground to allow pilots to train in the most real-world way possible," General Goretti said.

The International Flight Training School was born from the strategic collaboration between the Italian Air Force and Leonardo in order to create an advanced flight training center as an international reference for the training of military pilots starting from Phase IV (Advanced/Lead-In to Fighter Training). The IFTS relies on a modular and very versatile syllabus, based on the innovative T-346A Integrated Training System which is a highly effective system for training pilots destined for latest-generation fighters such as the F-35, Eurofighter and Gripen.

Written by Matteo Sanzani

Source, Image: Italian Air Force