The Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force) held an event in September to celebrate their 40 years of Panavia Tornado operations. However, before we describe that special day, we thought our readers might enjoy reading a brief history of the Tornado in Italian service and how the interdiction role which it fulfilled evolved for the nation’s air arm.

Introduction

by Gregory Alegi

The flightline recently assembled in Ghedi, Italy to celebrate the Panavia Tornado’s four decades of service with the Aeronautica Militare would have delighted the late General Amedeo Mecozzi. This is not because he ever had the opportunity to fly the type, nor even participate in its development, since his 1971 death precluded any such involvement. But, even so, it is easy to imagine Mecozzi enthusing over the Tornado’s capabilities and service record which more than fulfilled the vision he espoused in the 1930s that interdiction was the proper function for an Air Force. The interdiction concept, where an air force disrupts, diverts or destroys an enemy force’s fighting capacity before it ever has a chance to effectively wield its power was in sharp contrast with the prevailing paradigm of the day which championed strategic bombing instead.

Based upon his WWI experience as a fighter ace, Mecozzi came to believe that an air arm should…