General

The Italian armed forces are divided into four branches:

• Esercito Italiano (Army)
• Aeronautica Militare (Air Force)
• Marina Militare (Navy)
• Carabinieri (Gendarmerie)

The Italian armed forces are under the command of the Italian Supreme Defense Council, presided over by the President of the Italian Republic. The total number of military personnel is approximately 308,000. Italy has the eighth-highest military expenditure in the world.

The Esercito Italiano (the Italian Army) is the ground defence force of the Italian Republic. It has recently (July 29, 2004) become a professional all-volunteer force of 115,687 active duty personnel. Its most famous combat vehicles are Dardo, Centauro and Ariete, and Mangusta attack helicopters, recently deployed in UN missions; but the Esercito Italiano also has at its disposal a large number of Leopard 1 and M113 armoured vehicles.

The Aeronautica Militare Italiana (AMI) is the air force of Italy. It was founded as an independent service arm on the 28 March, 1923, by King Vittorio Emanuele III as the Regia Aeronautica (which translates to Royal Air Force). After World War II, when Italy was made a republic by referendum, the Regia Aeronautica was given its current name.

Today the Aeronautica Militare has a strength of 45,879 and operates 585 aircraft, including 219 combat jets and 114 helicopters. As a stopgap and as replacement for leased Tornado ADV interceptors, the AMI has leased 30 F-16A Block 15 ADF and four F-16B Block 10 Fighting Falcons, with an option for some more. The coming years also will see the introduction of 121 EF2000 Eurofighter Typhoons, replacing the leased F-16 Fighting Falcons. Furthermore updates are foreseen on the Tornado IDS/IDT and the AMX-fleet. The transport capacity is guaranteed by a fleet of 22 C-130Js, also a completely-new developed G222, called C-27J Spartan (12 aircraft ordered), will enter service replacing the G222's. The Italian air force is also planning on purchasing F-35, although they have not been distributed around the world yet.

The Marina Militare (the Italian Navy) is one of the four branches of the military forces of Italy. It was created in 1946, as the Navy of the Italian Republic, from the Regia Marina. Today's Marina Militare is a modern navy with a strength of 35,261 and ships of every type, such as aircraft carriers, destroyers, modern frigates, submarines, amphibious ships and other smaller ships such as oceanographic research ships.