Editing Italian Armed Forces (section)

===Italian Air Force===
{{Main article|Italian Air Force}}
[[File:Aermacchi M-346 (code MT55219) arrives RIAT Fairford 13July2017.jpg|thumb|An [[Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master]] of the [[Italian Air Force]]]]
[[File:AgustaA129 01.jpg|thumb|Attack helicopter [[Agusta A129 Mangusta]] of the [[Italian Air Force]]]]

The [[Italian Air Force]] ({{langx|it|Aeronautica Militare}}; '''AM''', {{lit|military aeronautics}}) is the [[air force]] of the [[Italy|Italian Republic]]. Since its formation, the service has held a prominent role in modern [[Military history of Italy|Italian military history]]. The acrobatic display team is the {{lang|it|[[Frecce Tricolori]]}}. Italy was among the earliest adopters of military aviation. Its air arm dates back to 1884, when the [[Italian Royal Army]] ({{lang|it|Regio Esercito}}) was authorised to acquire its own air component. The Air Service ({{lang|it|[[Corpo Aeronautico Militare]]}}) operated balloons based near Rome.

In 1911, reconnaissance and bombing sorties during the [[Italo-Turkish War]] by the ''Servizio Aeronautico'' represented the first use of heavier-than-air aircraft in armed conflict. On 28 March 1923, the Italian Air Force was founded as an independent service by [[Victor Emmanuel III of Italy|King Vittorio Emanuele III]] of the [[Kingdom of Italy]].

During the 1930s, it was involved in its first military operations in Ethiopia in 1935, and later in the [[Spanish Civil War]] between 1936 and 1939. Eventually, Italy entered [[World War II]] alongside Germany. After the armistice of 8 September 1943, Italy was divided into two sides, and the same fate befell the ''Regia Aeronautica''. The Air Force was split into the ''[[Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force]]'' in the south aligned with the Allies, and the pro-Axis ''[[Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana]]'' in the north until the end of the war. When Italy was made a republic by referendum, the air force was given its current name ''Aeronautica Militare''. The [[cockade of Italy]] is one of the symbols of the Italian Air Force, and is widely used on all Italian state [[aircraft]], not only military.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latinacorriere.it/2017/04/17/san-felice-escursionista-gaeta-ferito-scende-dal-picco-circe/|title=San Felice, escursionista di Gaeta ferito mentre scende dal Picco di Circe|date=17 April 2017 |access-date=21 August 2018|language=it}}</ref>

Armed conflicts in [[Somalia]], [[Mozambique]] and the nearby [[Balkans]] led to the Italian Air Force becoming a participant in multinational air forces, [[NATO bombing of Yugoslavia|such as that of NATO]] over the former [[Yugoslavia]], just a few minutes flying time east of the [[Italian Peninsula]]. The commanders of the Italian Air Force soon saw the need to improve the Italian air defences.