Thousands of critical components for military aircraft have disappeared from an Italian Air Force warehouse in Brindisi, in southern Italy.
According to Euronews, an investigation has been launched to determine the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of nearly 2,500 aircraft components for military planes, valued at approximately €17 million.
The missing items include modules and electronic systems for Panavia Tornado fighter-bombers, AMX International attack aircraft, and Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport planes.
About a dozen people have been placed under investigation by the Rome prosecutor’s office and the military prosecutor. They include senior Air Force logistics officials, generals, and managers of an external company responsible for maintaining materials at the Brindisi warehouse.
The parts are not routine spare parts, but critical components required for the safe operation of military aircraft. Such components are normally tracked through military records, inventory codes, and NATO protocols.
Investigators are examining how parts subject to strict accounting controls could have disappeared from official records before being physically removed from storage.
One focus of the investigation is the “decommissioning” of certificates issued for some parts after they had already disappeared. If the components were retroactively declared worn out, this could point to an organized effort to erase their traceability.
As noted by the Italian newspaper la Repubblica, one unverified line of inquiry suggests that the parts may have been diverted to South America, particularly Brazil, where some of these aircraft types are still used by the Brazilian Air Force.
The AMX was developed through Italian-Brazilian cooperation, but with production lines discontinued, obtaining original critical parts for operating older aircraft is becoming increasingly difficult.
For this reason, the investigation is examining whether these certified parts were reintroduced into international demand circuits. While the investigation remains ongoing, authorities have not disclosed further details.
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