The 17º Stormo Incursori (en. 17th Raiders Wing) is the Italian Air Force Special Forces unit. [1]
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It is the younger special force created in Italy. It is based in Furbara, near Rome and part of the Comando interforze per le Operazioni delle Forze Speciali (COFS – Special Forces Operations Command).
Until April 8, 2008 the unit was named Reparto Incursori Aeronautica Militare (RIAM - Air Force Raiders Group) but with the expansion and evolution of the unit's assignments and its size the name was changed in "17° Stormo Incursori"
Historically the 17º Stormo Incursori has evolved from the Arditi Distruttori della Regia Aeronautica of World War II.
Raiders Group divided in: Command, Operations, Vehicles and Special equipments and 4 "squadriglie" ( wings) of raiders, of 2 to 4 detachments, of 8 to 12 soldiers. This means that the entire operational force will be ( at full strength) from 64 to 192 soldiers.
This branch provide the training for the operational main force, but is also capable to provide training sessions on: Evasion end Escape and EOD/ EOR / IEDD to others Italian army and navy units.
The Italian Air Force has HH-3F helicopters for its activity, as well as C-130J "Hercules II" and C-27J "Spartan". There is a requirement for a more modern helicopter, such as NH-90. On the field the operative force in equipped with VTLM "Lince", quads, jeep.
This unit has access to a big arsenal of sniper rifles (especially for heavy snipers, used to knock out military airplanes) and mini UAV as "Strix" of Galileo Avionica and "ROVER IV" of L-3 Communication.
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