On Thursday 14 December, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Air Squadron General Luca Goretti, and the Chief of Staff of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, General Hiroaki Uchikura signed in Tokyo, at the Japanese Ministry of Defense, a technical arrangement for the conduct of joint and mutual in-flight refueling activities of the aircraft of the two air forces.
The agreement, which arises from the technical-operational need to safeguard safety for the conduct of operations Air To Air Refueling applying the discipline of NATO standards on the matter.
These activities fall within the scope of the broader collaborative relations between Italy and Japan, which also include the agreement between the Air Force and Japan Air Self-Defense Force for the training of Japanese pilots at the International Flight Training School (IFTS) at the base of Decimomannu (CA).
The signing of this agreement constitutes a further signal of the strengthening of cooperative relations between the two air forces and the two countries that share spaces and orientations, and also takes on a high strategic value, also considering the changed geopolitical scenario in which global stability requires a joint commitment to security and defense.
One of the pillars of the relationship between Italy and Japan in the defense sector is confirmed by the intensification of political dialogue and the participation - together with the United Kingdom - in the development program of the new generation fighter GCAP (Global Combat Air Programme), made official at the same time in Tokyo by the Minister of Defense Guido Crosetto, together with his counterparts from Japan and the United Kingdom, for the launch of the project designed for the development and construction of the fighter of the future, with the sixth generation supersonic jet intended to replace the current Eurofighter Typhoon.
