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| An F-35 Lightning Under-Construction (File Photo) |
By ROBBIN LAIRD
CAMERI AIR BASE, Italy: The Italians have been significant innovators since the beginning of the airpower era and they continue to innovate with the launch of the F-35. Their facilities here provide support not only for Italian aircraft, but mark the start of an ability to support an allied F-35 fleet operating in the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
The innovation does not stop there. It is inherent in the Italian thinking about the concepts of operations of the F-35 and its contribution to Italian defense and security. Lt. General Pasquale Preziosa, the Italian Air Force Chief of Staff, underscored that the Italian Air Forcewill be deploying a mixed fleet of F-35s (As and Bs) because they believe that they need to deploy to the mission and not to the airfield. This anticipates the kind of learning the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps will shape as they deploy As and Bs to Japan starting in 2015.
I recently visited the Cameri facility. With the Japanese about to announce their own F-35 manufacturing facility, one can see clear implications for the F-35 as a global program. Indeed, there are a number of lessons learned at Cameri which affect the entire future of the F-35 program and its roll out in the Pacific as well.
Read the full story at Breaking Defense