Report on Italian Air Force activities a month after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

After the first weeks of the conflict in Ukraine we can draw up a first balance sheet of the commitment of the Italian Air Force.
It may not be an exhaustive list because it is based only on the tracking of the various specialized sites, but we can say with good certainty that it is very close to reality.

FIGHTERS
In addition to an initial nucleus of 4 Eurofighters (at least a two-seater), another 4 have been added. At the moment, therefore, we have 8 Typhoons deployed at Mihail Kogalniceanu AB, near Costanta, carrying out CAP and Air Policing missions over Romania.

TANKERS
We have tracked several in-flight refueling missions carried out by Boeing KC-767A (reg. MM62227, MM62228, MM62229) that took off from Pratica di Mare AB. The missions tracked have always taken place over Romania.

TRANSPORT
An airlift between Italy (Pratica di Mare AB and Pisa San Giusto AB) and Poland (Rezsow airport) is still in progress. We don’t know what is being transported but the Italian parliament has voted to send arms to help Ukraine.

The missions are carried out by both Lockheed Martin C-130Js (reg. MM62170, MM62177, MM62178, MM62179) and Boeing KC-767As (MM62226, MM62227, MM62228). We count at least two/three flights per day.

It should be noted that these flights do not pass over Hungary because Budapest has banned the use of its airspace for those carrying military aid to Ukraine.

SURVEILLANCE
Surveillance missions were performed by both Italian Air Force Gulfstream E.550 CAEW (reg. MM62303, MM62293) which took off from Pratica di Mare AB. These missions always took place over eastern Romania.

SEA PATROL
Missions carried out by Italian Air Force ATR P-72A (reg. MM62279) based at Sigonella, took place in the days preceding the outbreak of hostilities and immediately after, in connection with the presence of Russian Navy surface units in the central Mediterranean Sea.