Yesterday at Ghedi AB there was the ceremony for the transfer of the last few Tornado IDS of the 154º Gruppo Diavoli Rossi (Red Devils) to the 155th Gruppo ETS Pantere Nere (Black Panthers) (SEAD/DEAD, EW)
The 154th will now fly only F-35As and they will take on the nuclear strike role with the B-61 nuclear bombs.
A special livery for the event was made showing the traditional Red Devil flag and Insigna.
The 155th gruppo will be the last squadron in Italy that will fly the Tonka up until the phase out in 2027-2028.

On top of this the Italian Air Force has reopened an old squadron, the 101st Gruppo of the 32° Stormo.
They will operate 8 F-35B STOVL

>>63937595 (OP)
>Nuclear strike unit
>Has the rising sun on the tailfin livery
I always thought Italians didn't know how to meme

>ceremony for squadron dropping nukes
>paint Japanese flag on your plane
I wonder if they'll still have it on August 6th

>>63937633
>The "Arrow" is projected by the wake of the “Rising Sun”, a symbol that, in the tradition of the Group, recalls the motto “BANZAI - in picchiata sull’obiettivo”, coined during the First Gulf War at the time of the introduction of the bombing profile “Hi-Dive 45°”. The motto recalls the courage and fearless heart of the members of the Group even in extreme circumstances, and has contributed to further increasing the team spirit of the Flight Group.
the official meaning is kinda tame and unrelated to the nukes.But speaking to the guys of the 154th they often have a different "interpretation" some less politically correct than others.

>>63937626
It's not only the Navy flying F-35B in Italy then?

together with the italian 50th anniversary livery.

>>63937653
Yeah, I don't really understand the forces at play. I remember there was a bit of a fight between the Navy and the AF over how the procurement and deployement of the B models would go, but I never pried too deep.
I think one of the reasons was that if only the Navy had the Bs then their smaller numbers would make logistics, training and spare parts more expensive etc.

feel free to post any aviation/navy pictures you want. The thread won't last long anyway

>>63937646
>But speaking to the guys of the 154th they often have a different "interpretation" some less politically correct than others.
like what?

>>63937789
>like what?
one hinted at a "Roberto" sympathy (ROme BERlin TOkyo), while others were just nuke puns.

https://youtu.be/ZAO6-rH8OCY

Apparently the now transfered tornados will still maintain nuclear strike roles. So technically now 2 squadrons have such task

Send them to Ukraine.

>>63938622
I can think of a better place to send them but people would be mighty unhappy with my idea.

>>63938673
The Eastern Med is lovely this time of year...

>>63937595 (OP)
Italy has nukes?

>>63938842
They're part of a NATO agreement to deliver American B61s
Germans, Dutch, Belgians and Turks are also part of it (though the nukes were taken out of Turkey)
Brits will be joining

>>63938673
I would love for the 154th to give Tel Aviv a Rising Sun.

>>63938842
Like >>63938912 said. The idea was to give those nations nuclear participation through american nukes as way to make developing their own less attractive.
At least the germans and italians were really big on getting their own nukes in the early cold war.
Euratom, european the nuclear energy organization, was partially founded because italy, germany and france wanted use it as cover to develop their own nukes. That then got tanked after de gaulle became president.
Italy later tried to develop their own nuke and launch platform but that got canned along the way
Both nations also pursued nuclear missiles to be stationed in their nations. MGR-1 Honest John, MGM-31 Pershings, PGM-19 Jupiter etc.
The krauts really loved the idea of replacing most of their artillery units with Davy Crocketts too, the US leadership didn't approve of such a liberal usage of tactical nukes. It would have meant that any war would immediately escalate to nuclear usage.

>>63939814
>That then got tanked after de gaulle became president.
France once again undermining european independence while also screaming about europe not being independent enough

>>63937595 (OP)
nice livery

>>63937712
>>63938330
they look so good, f35 is so soulless

>>63937633
>graffiti on walls in Pompeii
The OG shitposting
>shadilay
Written by an Italian
>the old “Do not want” meme
Originated from photo of former Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema
Do I need to continue?

>>63938622
They're being moved to a different unit, not removed from service. You'd know this if you read the OP.

>>63937595 (OP)
How does that work? Do euro countries who do not possess nukes, kind of lease them or deploy them on the orders of countries that do?

>>63943184
read nigga, read

>>63938330
Do you sell that patch? Sono in Italia

>>63943264
No, sorry they were gifted to me.

>>63942989
yep

>>63939837
Let's not also talk about how they tried to torpedo the Eurofighter and basically rape Europe's ability to build their own planes. France is Europe's second worst enemy after Germany