Sicily first place outside the USA where F-35 pilots will be trained
Defence Minister Crosetto's announcement on the sidelines of the graduation ceremony at the International Flight Training School in Decimomannu
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"Sicily will be the first place outside the United States where the pilots of the F-35 will be trained. Just as we are the only country in the world where the F-35s are assembled, in Cameri'. This was announced by Defence Minister Guido Crosetto at the Decimomannu air base. "Because the future is built not by limiting itself to defence, but by making defence a social, economic and technological innovation engine. And this is an example of that,' the minister added.
Minister Crosetto, together with the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, at the military airport of Decimomannu (Cagliari), the headquarters of the International Flight Training School, attended the ceremony for the awarding of the patents to 16 student pilots who have completed their training at the school. The pilots who received the turreted eagles are part of a larger group of 67 trainees, belonging to the Italian Air Force and other foreign air forces, who have completed the process of obtaining a pilot's licence. Only a few, however, will begin their Top Gun course at the Ifts school in southern Sardinia, which opened in 2022 and from which 140 fighter pilots have already left.
"We need a strong defence primarily to ensure peace and security, because there is no democracy without peace and security. There is no future or hospitals without a strong defence," said the Defence Minister.
