Country Italy Type Naval aviation | Branch Italian Navy Size 2,000 personnel (2015) | |
 | ||
Part of Commander in Chief Naval Fleet Current
commander Rear Admiral Giorgio Gomma | ||
The Italian Navy Aviation (Aviazione Navale) is the naval air component of the Italian Navy. Composed of around 2000 men and women and 69 aircraft and helicopters, the naval aviation represents a top niche and an enabler for the air-naval instrument.
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History
It is more commonly known as Naval Aviation as it received various official designations throughout its service and its origins date back to 1913, when it was created has the air branch of the Navy. The service was then disbanded and integrated into the Italian Air Force, upon the creation of this new branch in 1937, when a law gave control of all national fixed-wing air assets to the Italian Air Force.
Having been reactivated in 1956 to operate the Navy's new shipborne helicopters entering service with the Italian frigates. The ban on fixed-wing aircraft was lifted in 1989, and the Italian Navy acquired Harrier II fighters to fly from the aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi.
In 2009 Giuseppe Garibaldi was replaced as the flagship of the Italian navy by the new and larger aircraft carrier Cavour.
Naval air stations
The units of the Italian Naval Aviation are homebased at three combined military / civil airfields, at which the Naval Aviation Command of the Marina Militare Italiana has operational control over the military parts, plus a small naval aviation flight based at the Pratica di Mare Air Base of the Aeronautica Militare Italiana.