CAE Hosts Alberta Delegation at Italy’s International Flight Training School

Italy – CAE Defense & Security hosted Canada's Alberta Minister of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration Joseph Schow and a Government of Alberta delegation at the Italian Air Force’s International Flight Training School (IFTS) in Decimomannu, Sardinia.

• The Decimomannu campus operates 22 Leonardo M-346 advanced jet trainers and has capacity for approximately 80 Lead-In Fighter Training courses and 8,000 aircraft flight hours annually, supported by an international team of instructors and technical personnel.
• CAE said the delegation viewed the Ground Based Training System, including its Full Mission Simulator equipped with the company’s MRe visual system. The tour also covered aircraft maintenance, flight operations and the supporting campus infrastructure.
• A July 2026 Leonardo announcement described the wider campus inventory as seven advanced simulators delivering approximately 8,000 simulation hours annually.
• The Ground Based Training System also incorporates multimedia and classroom instruction, mission planning, training management and logistics-support functions. It is connected with the aircraft’s Embedded Tactical Training System to support Live, Virtual and Constructive missions involving airborne pilots, simulator crews and computer-generated entities.
• The school delivers Phase IV Lead-In Fighter Training intended to prepare military pilots for subsequent conversion to frontline combat aircraft.
• Leonardo and CAE established the Leonardo CAE Advanced Jet Training joint venture in 2021 to provide M-346 and ground-system maintenance, training support and operational services at IFTS. The Italian Air Force provides the training syllabus, active-duty instructors and military qualification oversight.
• AFM previously reported that CAE and Leonardo expanded their M-346 training collaboration in July 2026 to cover Live, Virtual and Constructive and Live Synthetic Integration capabilities, AI-enabled systems and training requirements associated with increasingly autonomous operational environments. 

Source: CAE Defense & Security