Italy Italian Air Force

Frecce Tricolori

Ten-aircraft Aermacchi MB-339PAN national aerobatic team

Frecce Tricolori is the Italian Air Force’s national aerobatic team. The 313° Gruppo Addestramento Acrobatico flies ten MB-339PANs: nine in the main formation and Pony 10 as the soloist. From its home at Rivolto, the unit turns military formation discipline into one of Italy’s most recognisable displays.

Established
1961
Formation
9 + 1 — 10 total
Aircraft
MB-339PAN
Soloist
Pony 10
Unit
313° G.A.A.
Home
Rivolto

The team

Ten display aircraft, eleven Pony numbers, one permanent flying unit.

A dedicated Italian Air Force unit

Frecce Tricolori is the public name of the 313° Gruppo Addestramento Acrobatico, the Italian Air Force’s permanent aerobatic training group. The ten-aircraft flying element is only its most visible part. Roughly a hundred military personnel work across flying, aircraft maintenance and the support needed to take the display away from Rivolto.

The positions that shape the display

Pony 0 is the group commander. In the air, Pony 1 leads the main formation and controls its manoeuvres; Pony 6 leads the second section during separations, crossings and rejoins; and Pony 10 is the soloist. Pony 2 to Pony 9 complete the nine-aircraft collective formation around those key positions.

Experience brought in — and taken back

Display pilots are selected from the Italian Air Force’s operational flying units rather than recruited into a separate career stream. They arrive with front-line experience, learn one position before progressing through the formation, and eventually return that experience to the wider service. Aircraft specialists provide the same continuity on the ground.

The display

Nine in formation. One soloist. No empty sky.

The Italian Air Force’s published programme contains 18 manoeuvres. It opens with all ten aircraft together, then divides the formation into sections while the soloist’s figures are placed between collective passes. The result is a continuous sequence rather than a series of isolated set pieces.

All ten together

The opening establishes the full scale of the team before Pony 10 leaves the other nine aircraft to begin the solo sequence.

Nine-aircraft formation

Pony 1 leads the collective formation through loops, rolls and changes of shape while eight wingmen hold visual references.

Split sections

Pony 6 leads the second section through separations, opposing passes and precise rejoins with the section led by Pony 1.

Pony 10 solo

The soloist fills the gaps while the main formation turns away, showing the MB-339PAN as an individual aerobatic aircraft.

Tricolour smoke

Green, white and red smoke traces crossings and breaks, turning the geometry of the display into a large Italian flag in motion.

Weather alternatives

When cloud removes vertical room, the sequence can reduce high figures while preserving formation changes and horizontal passes.

The aircraft

Aermacchi MB-339PAN: an Italian trainer adapted for national display flying.

An Italian two-seat trainer

The MB-339 was designed and built in Italy by Aermacchi as the successor to the MB-326. It is a single-engine, two-seat light training and attack aircraft. The rear seat is raised above the front cockpit, giving an instructor the forward view needed during training.

What makes the PAN version different

In Italian Air Force nomenclature the display aircraft is the AT-339A (PAN). It retains the trainer’s tandem cockpit but adds a purpose-built smoke installation. Two tanks mounted beneath the wings feed that system, allowing white smoke or the green and red colours used to draw the national flag across the sky.

Why it suits the display

When it replaced the Fiat G.91PAN, the MB-339 gave the team an aircraft the Italian Air Force describes as easier and more agile. Its subsonic performance and responsive handling let the ten aircraft build a compact, readable sequence close enough for the audience to follow the formation changes.

The successor has been chosen

The Italian Air Force presented the Leonardo M-346 as the next Frecce Tricolori aircraft in 2024, together with a new livery by Pininfarina. The official announcement said it would replace the MB-339PAN “in the coming years”; it did not set a handover date. Until that transition is formally completed, the MB-339PAN is the team’s current display aircraft.

The story so far

From rotating fighter teams to a permanent national aerobatic unit.

1952–60

Front-line wings take turns representing Italy

Before Italy created a permanent national team, aerobatic duty rotated among fighter units. Cavallino Rampante, Getti Tonanti, Tigri Bianche, Diavoli Rossi and Lanceri Neri helped establish the post-war formation-flying tradition inherited by the PAN.

1961–62

The national team forms at Rivolto

A Special Aerobatic Unit was formed at Rivolto on 1 March 1961, made its first official outing at Trento on 1 May, and became the 313° Gruppo Addestramento Acrobatico on 1 July. In 1962 the Sabres received the three-arrow green, white and red scheme that fixed the Frecce Tricolori identity.

1963–66

The G.91PAN establishes the 9+1 format

The first Italian-built Fiat G.91PAN arrived on 28 December 1963. The formation grew to nine aircraft, and from the 1966 season the tenth aircraft performed as a dedicated soloist: the 9+1 structure still used by the team.

1982

The MB-339PAN takes over

The first MB-339PAN was delivered on 6 January. A mixed formation of four G.91s and five MB-339s marked the change on 27 April, and the Frecce returned to full 9+1 strength during the same season.

28 Aug 1988

The Ramstein tragedy

Three Frecce Tricolori aircraft collided during the air show at Ramstein Air Base in West Germany. The three Italian pilots and 67 people on the ground ultimately died. The loss of 70 lives remains inseparable from the history of the team and of air-show safety.

1992–2005

International appearances resume

The 1992 Columbus tour took the team back across the Atlantic, including a flypast at Niagara Falls. In 2005 the Frecce received the King Hussein Memorial Sword for best display at the Royal International Air Tattoo.

2022

The ten-aircraft scale receives formal recognition

Guinness World Records recognised the PAN as the military aerobatic team performing displays with the greatest number of aircraft — a distinction rooted in its long-established 9+1 format.

2024

North America again — and the next aircraft

The team returned to Canada and the United States after 32 years. Following the tour, the Italian Air Force presented the M-346 and its Pininfarina-designed scheme as the future successor to the MB-339PAN, without announcing a fixed service-entry date.

Understanding the identity

The arrows, the colours and the exact meaning of 9+1.

01

9+1 means ten aircraft — not eleven

Nine MB-339PANs fly the collective formation and Pony 10 performs the solo sequence. Pony 0 is the commander’s organisational number, not an extra aircraft in the display. That is why the team is correctly described as a ten-aircraft 9+1 formation.

02

A name written in three colours

“Frecce Tricolori” means “Tricolour Arrows”. The identity dates to 1962, when three green, white and red arrows appeared along the Sabres’ fuselages. Today the same national colours define the aircraft, the smoke and the team’s role as a flying representative of the Italian Air Force and Italy.

European Airshows photography

Look for the nine-aircraft formation dividing into two sections while Pony 10 occupies the display line, then follow the green, white and red smoke through each crossing, break and rejoin.

Multiple colorful airplanes lined up on a tarmac with painted tails showing numbers 0 to 10, and the tails are colored with green, white, and red. The background is mostly gray with some trees and a utility pole visible.
A formation of fighter jets flying in a V-shape with smoke trails against a blue sky.
Multiple fighter jets flying in formation through a cloudy sky.
Six fighter jets flying in a tight formation across a clear blue sky.
Three fighter jets flying in close formation against a cloudy sky.
A modern military jet aircraft flying in the sky with a blue sky and some clouds in the background.
A formation of airplanes flying in the sky, leaving trails of colored smoke in green, white, red, and orange.
A sleek military jet aircraft flying in the sky with a blue body, white, green, and red stripes, and a U.S. Navy or military insignia, carrying a fuel tank under its wing.
A fighter jet is performing an aerial stunt, leaving a trail of smoke in the sky.
Six fighter jets flying in formation, releasing smoke trails in green, white, and red colors, representing the Italian flag.
Six fighter jets flying in a synchronized formation in the sky, with one jet appearing blurred indicating motion, and leaving trail smoke
A formation of nine military jets flying over the sea, releasing green, white, and red smoke trails, with a landmass and lighthouse in the background.
Three fighter jets flying in formation in the sky.
Six jet aircrafts flying in a tight formation in the sky.
Six airplanes flying in formation over water, releasing colored smoke in green, brown, and red, with mountains in the background and a cloudy sky.
Five airplanes flying over the ocean, leaving trail smoke in the colors of the Italian flag: green, white, and red.
Multiple planes fly in formation over the ocean, releasing colored smoke trails in the pattern of the Italian flag's colors: green, white, and red.
A formation of nine Italian Air Force fighter jets flying in the sky, with mountains in the background, leaving smoke trails behind.
Eight fighter jets flying in tight formation in a clear blue sky, emitting white smoke trails.
Seven jet planes flying in a formation, leaving white smoke trails against a blue sky during an air show.
A formation of nine blue, white, and red jets flying in the sky, leaving white smoke trails behind them during an air show.
Four fighter jets flying in a tight formation against a clear blue sky.
Multiple fighter jets in a sharp V formation flying in the sky.
Six fighter jets flying in close formation against a clear blue sky.
A formation of nine blue fighter jets flying in a diagonal line, emitting white smoke trails, against a mountainous landscape.
Six fighter jets flying in a formation against a blue sky
A fighter jet aircraft flying in the sky with a clear blue background.
Six fighter jets flying in formation above buildings against a clear blue sky.
An aircraft flying upside down releasing a large plume of white smoke into the sky.
Military fighter jet flying through the sky, leaving behind trails of smoke.
Formation of ten airplanes flying in a V-shape pattern, releasing green, white, and red colored smoke trails, with a bright blue sky and scattered clouds in the background.
A formation of ten jet airplanes flying in a V shape against the sun and sky.
Six fighter jets performing an air show fly in formation, leaving trails of colored smoke in green, white, and red against a blue sky, representing the colors of the Italian flag.
Four airplanes flying in a tight formation over the ocean, releasing smoke trails that form a large, curved pattern in the sky above a sandy beach.
Six aircraft flying in formation with colored smoke trails: green on the left, white in the center, and red on the right, against a clear blue sky.
Six aircraft flying in formation, releasing colored smoke in green, white, and red, during an airshow.
Eight planes flying in formation and releasing white smoke trails in the sky during an air show.
A formation of nine jet aircraft flying in the sky, releasing white smoke trails, with clear blue sky background.
Italian military jet in blue, green, white, and red colors with Italian insignia on wings and tail, flying in the sky.
A formation of nine fighter jets performing an aerial display, releasing trails of red, white, and green smoke in the sky.
Nine fighter jets flying in formation, releasing colored smoke trails in red, orange, green, and beige against a sky with clouds during an air show.
Seven aircrafts flying in formation releasing colored smoke trails of green, red, and white against a cloudy sky, celebrating an air show.
A colorful jet aircraft with Italy's flag colors flying in the sky, featuring the number 10 on its tail and the words 'frecce tricolori' on its side.
A formation of jets flying in the sky with the Italian flag colors and the Italian Air Force planes forming a pyramid, with other planes in a V shape, with the sun shining behind them and a clear blue sky.
A formation of eight jet aircrafts flying in the sky, releasing colored smoke trails in white, red, green, and orange during an airshow.
A formation of fighter jets flying in the sky, releasing smoke trails in various colors like white, orange, green, and purple, during an air show.
Six planes flying in formation, emitting colored smoke trails in green, white, and red, against a blue sky, celebrating Italy's national colors.
Six fighter jets flying in formation releasing colorful smoke in the colors of green, white, and red, representing the Italian flag.
Four fighter jets performing an air show, with colorful smoke trails in green, orange, and white, flying against a cloudy sky.
Six fighter jets flying in formation releasing green, white, and red colored smoke, resembling the Italian flag, during an air show.
A formation of nine fighter jets flying in the sky, leaving trails of smoke behind them.
Four fighter jets flying in formation with snowy mountains in the background and green trees and houses below.
Five colorful jets flying in formation against a clear sky with snow-capped mountains in the background.
A formation of several fighter jets flying over a snow-covered forest with trees. The jets are releasing trails of colored smoke in green, white, and red, representing the Italian flag.
Six fighter jets on a runway releasing colored smoke in green, white, and orange, with trees in the background.
A formation of nine military jets flying in the sky over snow-covered mountains, emitting colorful smoke trails in green, white, and red, resembling the Italian flag.
Multiple fighter jets flying in formation during an air show, with cloud-filled sky in the background.
A formation of military airplanes flying in the sky, releasing colored smoke trails in green, white, and red.
A group of nine fighter jets flying in formation in a clear blue sky, emitting red, white, and green smoke trails.
Multiple fighter jets flying in formation with smoke trails against a blue sky.
Eight fighter jets flying in formation with colorful smoke trails in green, white, red, and orange during an airshow.
Multiple fighter jets flying in formation, leaving white smoke trails against a blue sky with clouds.
A formation of ten Italian fighter jets flying in a V-shaped pattern in the sky.
Three aircraft flying in formation during an air show, with gray sky background.
F-16 fighter jet in mid-air with Italian flag colors painted on its body, performing a stunt against a cloudy sky backdrop.
Six fighter jets flying in formation, releasing colored smoke trails in green, orange, red, and white against a cloudy sky.
A formation of ten military jets flying in a V-shape against a cloudy sky.
A blue, white, green, and red fighter jet airplane cleaning the sky, with a pilot visible in the cockpit, flying against a clear blue sky.
Seven aircraft flying in formation against a blue sky, releasing colored smoke in green, white, red, and orange during an air show.