Italian Tornados: the Panavia Tornado in Italian Air Force Service | Aviation

50 years ago, the Panavia Tornado took to the skies for the first time, inaugurating a long, action-packed and impressive career, including 42 years of service with the Italian Aeronautica Militare.

On Aug. 14, 1974 the Panavia Tornado had its first flight at the hands of pilot Paul Millett, starting an eventful career that would see the Tonka, as the Tornado is affectionately called in Britain as a reference to old Tonka toy trucks, get involved in various conflicts and serve in four different Air Forces.

Italy was a founding partner of the Panavia Aircraft Gmbh consortium, building the Tornado through the 15% stake of Aeritalia (now Leonardo), and was deeply involved in the development and production process along with the British BAE Systems and the German Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (now part of Airbus).

The first Italian prototype had its first flight on Dec. 5, 1975 from Torino Caselle, while the first production airframes intended for the Italian Aeronautica Militare came off the assembly line only in 1981, and on Aug. 27, 1982 the first operational aircraft finally landed at Ghedi air base, their main home for the next 42 years.

Over the course of their career, the Italian Air Force would come to use 123 Tornado airframes (without including the two prototypes and a…