The Italian Air Drive has formally activated its New Helicopter College at Viterbo airport, relocating the 72° Stormo and making a joint nationwide rotary-wing coaching hub.
The Italian Air Drive (Aeronautica Militare) has formally established a brand new nationwide helicopter coaching hub at Viterbo Air Base, a part of the reorganization of the rotary-wing flight coaching system. The transfer sees the 72° Stormo (Wing) formally put in in Viterbo, which already is dwelling of the Military’s (Esercito) flight coaching.
The 72° Stormo was beforehand primarily based in Frosinone. As a part of the modernization, it was determined to consolidate helicopter pilot coaching actions in a single location, laying the foundations for a centralized, inter-service coaching system.
The inauguration ceremony came about on Jan. 15, 2026, within the presence of senior army management and native authorities, formally confirming the Viterbo’s new function because the core of the Nuova Scuola Elicotteri (New Helicopter College) of the Aeronautica Militare. Based on official statements, the varsity is meant to change into a nationwide reference level for rotary-wing pilot coaching, with an explicitly joint vocation.
Strategic Relocation
For many years, the 72° Stormo and the Italian Air Drive’s helicopter coaching mission have been intently related to Frosinone Air Base, which served because the historic dwelling of fundamental and superior rotary-wing flight instruction. The choice to relocate the varsity to Viterbo is the results of a long-planned restructuring geared toward bettering effectivity, infrastructure availability, and long-term progress potential.
The switch to Viterbo is being carried out progressively, guaranteeing continuity in coaching actions whereas new services and organizational constructions are phased in. The transfer is deliberate to be full by the top of 2028.
Native and nationwide media retailers emphasised that the relocation additionally displays broader protection infrastructure planning, with Viterbo more and more positioned as a middle of excellence for army schooling and coaching. Actually, the airport already hosts the Italian Air Drive’s and Military’s NCO Faculties and Military Aviation (Aviazione dell’Esercito) models.
The Position of the 72° Stormo
The 72° Stormo stays the only Italian Air Drive unit devoted solely to helicopter flight coaching, a job it continues to satisfy at Viterbo. Its mission contains coaching pupil pilots from the Aeronautica Militare, in addition to personnel from different Italian Armed Forces and legislation enforcement companies and overseas college students.
As a part of its mission, the unit trains the Air Drive’s college students assigned to the “Helicopter Observe” (MPLH – Helicopter Navy Pilot License Part 3A and 3B), and the equal licenses of the opposite armed forces. Furthermore, among the many coaching programs are those for the instructors and different crewmembers.
As harassed by the Italian Air Drive, the New Helicopter College is designed from the outset as an inter-service coaching construction, able to supporting joint necessities and fostering widespread requirements throughout completely different organizations working rotary-wing plane. On the identical time, this strategy permits to optimize assets with out sacrificing coaching’s high quality.
“The Wing’s relocation to Viterbo Airport, with ongoing upkeep assured at Frosinone Airport, represents a strategic step within the Air Drive’s reorganization and modernization. Due to its intensive coaching and improvement capability, the Wing will function the hub of a real ‘federation of coaching facilities,’ every with its personal autonomy and organizational construction. These facilities function by coordinated and shared governance processes, providing a complete coaching program for the good thing about the complete sector. The 72nd Wing’s joint nature, primarily based on a typical construction and a shared, modular syllabus, will even allow vital economies of scale, guaranteeing tangible advantages by way of coaching, logistics, and upkeep effectivity, in step with the army’s present and future operational wants.”
— Colonel Alessandro Fiorini, Commander of 72° Stormo
Infrastructure and Coaching Atmosphere
Viterbo Air Base affords a number of benefits for helicopter coaching operations. The encircling space gives a various working atmosphere, appropriate for fundamental flight instruction, navigation coaching, and superior mission profiles. The bottom additionally advantages from present army infrastructure and out there house for future enlargement.
The Italian Air Drive has confirmed that the varsity will depend on a contemporary coaching strategy, integrating flight hours with classroom instruction and artificial coaching instruments. Just like the service’s different faculties, the brand new college in Viterbo will embody a Floor-Primarily based Coaching System (GBTS) in addition to the flying section.
Based on Parliamentary paperwork, in future the varsity is deliberate to obtain 30 AW-169 helicopters within the Gentle Utility Helicopter (LUH) configuration, presumably the identical delivered final 12 months to the Military underneath the UH-169D designation. The brand new helicopters will exchange the present coaching helicopter fleets.
The Military’s flight instructors will likely be an energetic a part of the varsity, working alongside their Air Drive counterparts. For the preliminary part of the switch, the Military’s flight college will even share its helicopters with the 72° Stormo.
Official statements additionally go away the door open to worldwide cooperation. Italy already performs a outstanding function in worldwide pilot coaching by different applications such because the Worldwide Flight Coaching College (IFTS), and the helicopter college may, sooner or later, host overseas college students.
