Italy receives first G550 ‘green' JAMMS aircraft

The Italian Air Force fields two G550 CAEW, which it acquired from Israel Aerospace Industries. The service plans to field eight additional G550-based C4ISTAR aircraft by the early 2030s. (Israel Aerospace Industries)

The Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare Italiana: AMI) has received the first Gulfstream G550 ‘green' Joint Airborne Multisensor Multimission System (JAMMS) aircraft.

The G550 JAMMS aircraft arrived at Pratica di Mare Air Base on 7 March, which is home to the 14th Air Wing that operates two G550 Conformal Airborne Early Warning (CAEW) aircraft, an AMI spokesperson confirmed to Janes on 11 March.

“The MMMS [multimission multisensor] aircraft will be used to conduct monitoring and surveillance operations of tactical operational scenarios, to support strategic and operational decisions, and perform command-and-control (C2) and electronic protection tasks,” the AMI said.

This is the first of eight aircraft that the AMI is procuring under the first phase of its MMMS aircraft programme.

The AMI did not disclose details of the contract for the first two JAMMS aircraft. However, based on Italian Parliament documents, the prime contractor for the first phase of the MMMS programme is L3Harris.

The requirement for new G550-based command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (C4ISTAR) aircraft was first disclosed in December 2020 when the US Department of State approved a potential Foreign Military Sales (FMS) for the procurement and integration of two Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Electronic Warfare (AISREW) mission systems onto a pair of G550 aircraft to be provided by the Italian Ministry of Defence (MoD) and to be modified by L3Harris, for an estimated cost of USD500 million.