A historical/technical review of the upcoming Italian faction - The Aircraft
Aaand we are here again. Another week, another post yet again with backing from u/Senseiksen for more support and infos.
Our subject today will be Aircraft. Fixed Wings, Rotatory wings, we got em all in the same bulletin.
Just like vehicles there are some that i will refer to as "absents", as in aircraft that could have made the cut, missed opportunities et similar. So let's go.
THE HELICOPTERS
Logistics: Italy was a massive user of the AB.205. The description "Bell 205, which is a civilian version of the UH-1 Huey." is not really correct. Bell 205 is the Bell company designation. The AB.205 is the Augusta-Bell 205, meaning is a Bell 205 made by license by Augusta in Italy and its an equivalent to a UH-1D/H. So its a military Huey, simple as that. The CH-47C "Chinook" does not need any introduction except the definition of "CARICO" is still there and as explained in the vehicle review is incorrect. As explained in that post: "While yes in Italian a "Carico" means something loaded onto a vehicle is seldom used as a definition of a "Cargo vehicle". There are three terms that define the role better: TRASPORTO/CARGO/LOGISTICO. The First one is the pure definition of a "Transport" vehicle in the more generic term but in this context does not really leaves much to the ambiguity. "Cargo" is a foreign term imported in the common language to describe usually ships and airplanes used for transport of something other than passengers but in usually parlance a "Cargo" vehicle can be very well intended as a truck carrying goods/supplies, especially in a military setting." I would add that since the CH-47C is an aircraft the "cargo" denomination becomes even more fitting. Ignoring the name both choices are correct, Italy didn't really field other heavy transport helicopters, there might have been another option here but I'll talk about it later.
Infantry Transports: For the AB.412 the same argument can be made on whether or not its a "Civilian" version. Still just like the earlier AB.205 Italy produced many AB.412 under license, the distinction between armed and unarmed variants is a bit puzzling as them being military helicopters they tended to be armed, with the MG42/59 as correctly depicted. There isn't much to say about the CH-47C. But i will talk about the first units that "could have been there" the AB.212 and the SH-3 "Seaking".The AB.212 ASW was the main Italian naval helicopter but it was also adopted for other roles, down in the Recon tab we have the "ELIGUFO" which well 'talk about later but in the transport tab there could have been the AB.212 NLA (Nucleo Lotta Anfibia-Amphibious Warfare Group) which was modified to carry out naval air assault operations thus modified with countermeasures and such. The other missing is the SH-3, the famous Seaking. The Italian navy used SH-3s extensively and some were modified to support amphibious operations as the SH-3D NLA. In addition the SH-3D is big enough that could have been a cheaper option for the logistical tab, if one wished so, but it would have been a very appropriate transport for the Naval Infantry. The non inclusion of either of these can easily be justified tough as neither offers something new and both were fielded in the 1990s as a specific variant.
SH-3D of the Italian Navy in a temporary camouflage.
- Recon Units: Again, the AB.206 is licensed production and not really civilian. The Italian army used many of them for scouting/light transport duties, rather than a Kiowa the AB.206 is still a "Jet Ranger". In addition there were weapon mountings to turn into an armed scout with a 7.62mm Minigun or for some sources 70mm rockets so an AB.206 ESC (Elicottero da Sostegno al Combattimento, Combat Support Helicopter) could have been there. The AB.212 ELIGUFO, also sometimes referred to as "Colibri", is a specific electronic warfare variant of the AB.212 deployed by the Italian Navy, being an intelligence gathering platform was his job so this might easily be the "Excellent" optics scout helicopter. The A-109EOA is another fitting choice altough not really available in great numbers to the Italian Military. The distinction in two sub-variants reflects the two series of vehicles acquired with one being a more "complete" variant, the other an earlier simplified one.
AB.206 of the Italian Army equipped with a Minigun
- Gunships: The AB.205 MAMEE (Meyer Ammunition Module, Emerson Electric) is your standard Huey with rockets n machine guns. The MAMEE is the name of the weapons module. The A.109AT would be the "Experimental" A.109 equipped for anti tank operations. Experimental as in acquired in small numbers to test the viability, and despite being successful never procured in great numbers. Luckily such mistake would be done good by the introduction of the A.129 MANGUSTA as the dedicated AT platform, much more capable than the A.109. The MANGUSTA has the distinction of being the first European attack helicopter and the name "MANGUSTA" (Mongoose) implied its ability to surpass the "COBRA" as such animals are known to flex on Snakes. Initially only equipped with AT weapons subsequent variants were retrofitted with cannons (looking at you Eurocopter Tiger). The A.129 MANGUSTA CBT probably represents either Italian Army improvements or the "International" version. The International version was a proposed improved Mangusta to serve as an European attack helicopter but despite prototypes it never materialized. The A.129 INTERNATIONAL could have been its own thing as the "Attack Recon" similar to the Apache or some Eurocopter armed with either advanced AT Missiles like hellfires, of course as prototypes. Being an attack helicopter tough weapon configuration could be much more varied and in the end its up to the devs to implement it the way they see fit.
THE FIXED WINGS
- F-104: The workhorse of the Italian Air-To-Air component of the cold war. The so-called "Spillone"(big needle) in Italy is well known for both its iconic look and "questionable" safety record. For the Italian one we can add that it being in service until 2004 is something of another scandal on its own (a rather cheap way). The F-104G is the common European variant Italy adopted alongside most of its Nato allies. Pushed into "multirole" variant, capable of self defense. No self-protection suite etc... your run of the mill F-104. The F-104S was a unique Italian variant selected for service after only 3 years since the introduction of the F-104G. This very early selection probably led to an aircraft tha had little room to improbve. The "S" variant is the apex of the F-104 series coming with improved engine, improved wings, improved radar and the ability to fire the AIM-7 Sparrow in the CI Variant. The F-104S came into 2 variants, the CI and CB. The CI stands for Caccia-Intercettore (Fighter-Interceptor) the CB for Caccia-Bombardiere (Fighter-Bombers). The CI exchanged the 20mm Vulcan for the guidance equipment for the AIM-7 while the CB retained the 20mm cannon but could not use the AIM-7. The F-104S-CB can be referred to as an "Absent" when it could have served as a bomb truck, much like the 104G with different payload and have 2 104 lines, The Air To Air and Air To Ground. The F-104S ASA (Aggiornamento Sistema d'Arma, weapon system upgrade) was a late 1980s upgrade to the F-104S replacing the R-21G/H radar with an improved R-21G/M1 Setter capable of look down, but still with a rather abysmal range, and adding EL-73 RWR/Defensive ECM system. The Aspide correctly replaces the Early Sparrow and the AIM-9L gets introduced. This is called F-104S-ASA-1 which is not a denomination ever used by the Italian air force. The F-104S-ASA-2 is probably the F-104S ASA/M where M stands for "Modificato" (Modified). The F-104S ASA/M was the aviation equivalent of putting enough duck tape on something to keep it together until the replacement arrives. It didn't improve any combat capabilities of the Machine only improving communication and navigation systems. In the description it states: "further improves the plane’s air detection" but IRL this simply isn't true and there weren't any program to further improve the F-104S further. The implementation of the Idra missile (something we referred to in the previous post) is something foreseeable in a "What if" scenario to give the F-104S some better capability but its mostly fantasy. In addition the ASA/M program started in 1997 just to show how much of a "gap filler" the program was meant to be.
The Italian Air Force 1980s \"Dynamic Duo\"
Tornado: No way this was not going to be present. The 3 versions are representative of what the Italian Air Force fielded. The Standard Tornado IDS bomber was the most advanced aircraft in service with the Italian Air Force during the end of the cold war and the first one to perform a combat mission in italian colors since WW2 serving during Desert Storm. The TORNADO ECR for electronic warfare, should be mostly identical to its German brethren. The TORNADO ADV was procured in the late 90s as a stop-gap measure since the F-104 was simply too old to perform any reasonable combat duty, especially in a multi-national environment, the Italian Air Force leased several Tornado F.3 from the Royal Air Force. Service lasted less than a decade before them being replaced by yet another lease, this time by F-16s from the USA. As it was leased from Britain it was never wired to use Aspide Missiles using the british SkyFlash instead. Now for the only question mark: The name. The Tornado IDS here is referred to as A-200 (Should be A-200A) and the Tornado ECR as the EA-200B. This is not wrong but out of timeframe. These denominations of the "Mission Design Series" of 2006, referred to as MDS. This was the introduction in the Italian armed forces of a standardized nomenclature for aircraft akin to the American standardized system to move away from the ones provided by the manufacturer. Thus they are out of timeframe of about 10 to 20 years. The "TORNADO A-200" should simply be the "TORNADO IDS" and the "TORNADO EA-200B" should be the "TORNADO ECR" while the TORNADO ADV is correctly referred as such since it ended its service in the Italian Air Force before the adoption of the MDS. This system would apply to all aircraft, including of course helicopters. For example the AB.206 would be the RH-206 and the AB.412 the UH-412
The "Real Italian": The G.91R/1 Gina or the Italian "Mini-Sabre" is appropriately used as dumb bomb carrier, specifically napalm and other than saying that this was a very successful attempt at a simple ground attack aircraft there is nothing much to say. Maybe to point out that Italy was not the main operator, the Luftwaffe was but AFAIK there are no plans to introduce it to the germans in wargame. The G.91Y, often called the "Yankee" was the equivalent of an Italian "Super-Sabre"... only several decades later entering service in the 1970s. It wasn't a common aircraft with about 60 being procured and used as a light attack aircraft and "Advanced trainer". Not particularly successful due to lack of radar and most Electronic Warfare equipment. The In-game variant seems to be equipped with AS-20 anti tank missiles which to my knowledge is wrong. The AS-20 was tested on the earlier G.91R not on the Y. The G.91Y could have, more realistically, served as a bomb truck while the the G.91 could have used the AS-20. The MB-339 was the Italian Air Force standard intermediate/advanced trainer and it came in the MB-339A Variant for this period. As many trainers do it retained ground attack capability ranging from rockets to bombs and gunpods. There was a dedicated ground attack variant known as the MB-339K but it was a cheap export option that would not offer much if presented as a prototype compared to the standard MB-339. The A-11 GHIBLI is the successor to the G.91Y as a fast ground attack aircraft and it ended up, as many other Italian weapon programs of the period, costly and not offering much in term of capabilities compared to cheaper alternative due to the end of the cold war. If the Ariete could never find export market due to Leopard 2s flooding it the GHIBLI ended up being more expensive than an F-16 while offering little in the way of capabilities being a dedicated ground attack platform and in the end only Italy and Brazil, who developed it in tandem, ended up operating it. The Name A-11 is also based on "Mission Design Series". In this timeframe it should be more correctly referred to as the AMX GHIBLI in Italian service. The Armament seems roughly correct although the AMX would adopt such weaponry only in the late 1990s. In the pictures provided the AIM-9s are on under wing pylons instead of wingtip ones.
The AMX Ghibli, note the AIM-9s on the wingtips rather than under the wings.
- AV-8B HARRIER: This was introduced in the early 90s by the Italian Navy. The armament is also technically correct as the Italian navy adopted the AGM-65 Maverick for its harriers while the Italian Air Force never adopted such weapon. This Harrier version should also be probably named either AV-8B HARRIER II+ or AV-8B PLUS (Often referred as such in Italy) as it is the variant capable to use AIM-120 AMRAAMs being fitted with the APG-65 radar from the F/A-18 Hornet.
AV-8B Harrier II+ sporting AMRAAMS, a Targeting Pod and an LGB.
The absents:
There are only 2 aircraft abstent from this list that were not nominated so far and neither seems a particularly big omission. One is the HH-3F used for CSAR duties by the Italian air force and could've been present as another big and fast transport for special forces. The other is the Eurofighter Typhoon, already present in game for the UK it could have given Italy a top tier ASF if implemented, but we'll still see what this hypotetical "F-104S-ASA-2" is capable of. It should be noted that Italy was rather quick into putting the Typhoon in service achieving Initial Operational Capability before the UK and Germany (Having the F-104S ASA/M rusting away probably helped with that). Considering the hypothetical scenarios in wargame and extreme need for the Italian air force to modernize its air-to-air capability an early Eurofighter should have been more likely.
Final Remarks: Overall seems a good representation of "Italian military stuff that flies" during the cold war. There are some details here and there, often related to names plus one mistake on some equipment but overall nothing too far removed from reality (even the G.91Y with ATGMs that while fantasy might make sense given the trials on the earlier variants). The absent aircraft don't offer much to the tabs other than "flavor" and all the capabilities are implemented while keeping the tab mostly in touch with actual fielded vehicles and offering an overall faithful selection of Italian cold war aviation assets (with some notes here and there)