17º Stormo Incursori

The 17º Stormo Incursori (en. 17th Raiders Wing) is the Italian Air Force special forces unit. It is the youngest 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 to "17° Stormo Incursori"

Specialisations

 * Combat Search and Rescue (C-SAR)
 * Combat Controller (Forward Air Controller and Joint Terminal Attack Controller)
 * Pathfinder
 * Direct actions on airbases and aeronautical compounds

Raiders Group
Raiders Group divided in: Command, Operations, Vehicles and Special equipment 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.

Training Group
This branch provides the training for the operational main force, but is also capable of providing training sessions on: Evasion and Escape and EOD/ EOR / IEDD to others Italian army and navy units.

Vehicles and equipment
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.