Italy · 100 years of Military Aviation

Italian military aviation dates back further than the independent air force. Initially, aircraft and airships were assigned to the army and navy respectively. During the Italo-Turkish War of 1911/12, Italy used aircraft for reconnaissance and bombing. During the First World War, military aviation developed into an independent field of operations, but organizationally remained part of the existing armed services.

On 28 March 1923, under the fascist government, the **Regia Aeronautica**, the “Royal Air Force”, was established as an independent armed service. It was thus placed on an organizational par with the army and navy. In the following years, aviation was also used for state self-representation, for example through record flights and formation flights over long distances. At the same time, the Regia Aeronautica was deployed in the Italian colonial wars, the Spanish Civil War and during the Second World War.

After the 1943 armistice, the Italian air forces were divided: one part fought alongside the Allies, while another was subordinate to the fascist Italian Social Republic. With the abolition of the monarchy in 1946, the designation “Regia” was dropped; since then, the name has been **Aeronautica Militare**.

After the Second World War, the air force was rebuilt under the conditions of the republican constitutional order. With Italy’s accession to NATO in 1949, it was integrated into the Western alliance system. Its current tasks include monitoring and defending Italian airspace, contributing to international operations, and carrying out search-and-rescue missions. Aircraft and helicopters of the armed service are also deployed in natural disasters and for medical transport.

The anniversary therefore refers to the institutional establishment of an independent force in 1923, not to the beginning of Italian military aviation as a whole. The centenary provided the immediate occasion to commemorate this development on a circulation coin.