International Flight Training School (IFTS)

The Italian Air Force’s world-renowned excellence in flight training combined with Leonardo and CAE’s leadership in delivering proven integrated training solutions, resulted in the creation of the International Flight Training School (IFTS) in Italy.

Leonardo and CAE partnered to deliver comprehensive, lead-in fighter training to the Italian Air Force and trainees from other allied nations. Located in a brand-new 35,000 square meter campus at the Decimomannu Air Base (Sardinia), the IFTS is the international benchmark for advanced pilot training.

The IFTS provides a comprehensive Phase IV Advanced / Lead-in Fighter Training (LIFT) program based on the Italian Air Force syllabus, leveraging the capabilities of the M-346 Integrated Training System including a state-of-the-art Ground Based Training System (GBTS) jointly developed by CAE and Leonardo to train future fighter pilots who are not only required to be proficient pilots, but also need to manage the entire weapon system in scenarios which are becoming increasingly more complex.

The IFTS offers customized teaching modules, compliant with the syllabus of partner air forces, including its basic training, to support the student pilot in achieving the desired proficiency and output standard, further enabling the download of training from the Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) to save time and valuable resources, while delivering better-prepared pilots.

The Italian Air Force conducts its lead-in fighter training at the IFTS and third-party customers are invited to sign a government-to-government agreement with Italy to send students to the IFTS.