The Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force) held a farewell ceremony for the AMX “Ghibli” subsonic attack jet on April 5 at Istana Air Base.
The place is the headquarters of the 51° Stormo, which houses the 132° Gruppo, responsible for flying the aircraft developed by the former Aeritalia and Aermacchi (today Leonardo) and Embraer.
The AMX entered service in Italy in 1989 and had 136 aircraft received by Aeronautica Militare in addition to 56 A-1s delivered to the Brazilian Air Force, its only operators.
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Powered by a Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan, the AMX was an attack jet with good weapons capacity, but which ended up being surpassed by supersonic multifunctional fighters.
While the Brazilian AMXs were not used in any conflict, the Italian jets participated in missions in Libya, Serbia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.
In the Italian Air Force, they were replaced by the Eurofighter Typhoon and the F-35 Lightning II, a 5th generation fighter with stealth capabilities.
To mark the farewell, Aeronautica Militare painted the AMX 51-34 with special emblems and colors in addition to the Latin phrase “Volatus ad astra, memoria in aeternum”, which means “Flying to the stars, remembered forever”.
Phase out in Brazil in 2025
The AMX’s career is expected to end definitively next year when the Brazilian Air Force plans to remove its last A-1M, an updated variant of the aircraft, from service.
Brazil would have around 30 aircraft remaining after losing it in accidents and deactivating at least 21 jets. The FAB is replacing both the AMX and F-5 Tiger II with the Saab Gripen E/F.
