Thousands of military aircraft parts worth €17 million vanish from Italian stores
February 26, 2026
An investigation is ongoing in Italy to determine if 2,500 warplane components were embezzled and sold off, or if they were disposed of legitimately due to obsolescence with administrative errors. GE Avio and a Brazilian connection are caught up in the investigation.
€17 million of Italian warplane components missing
The Italian news outlet, La Repubblica, reported on 23rd of February that almost 2,500 pieces of equipment and components for military aircraft have vanished from the country’s stores.
Missing parts include avionics components from its Panavia Tornado fighters, AMX fighter-bombers, and its C-130 Hercules transports. These are estimated to have a value of €17 million.
The missing parts are “not just any bolts, but strategic parts” that include the “technological heart of the aircraft.”
Italy is investigating the disappearances and has launched an investigation into a dozen Italian Air Force logistics executives, some generals, and executives from GE Avio. GE Avio is part of the General Electric Group.
The parts disappeared between 2021 and 2023 from the Brindisi base, where GE Avio was contracted to maintain the aircraft. The La Repubblica article describes how the components have disappeared from the warehouses and accounting records.
The investigation is seeing if they were transferred to Brazil as one scenario of investigation.
The investigation is also trying to assess if the components were labelled “out of use” and disposed of, and if so, if this was a ploy to illegally sell the parts. At this stage, it is unclear if the disappearance is the result of “simple administrative confusion or trafficking in strategic material.”
The Brazilian connection
None of these aircraft are modern-frontline, high-value aircraft, at least compared with Italy’s Eurofighter Typhoons and new F-35 5th-generation fighter jet.
The AMX International AMX is a ground-attack aircraft jointly developed by Brazil and Italy and entered service in 1984. It is designed A-11 Ghibli in the Italian Air Force and A-1 in Brazilian service.
Some 230 were built, and Italy retired the last of its AMX aircraft in 2024. Brazil is believed to still have around a dozen remaining in service. These are being phased out by 2027 as they are replaced by the new Saab Gripen E fighter jets.
Brazil doesn’t operate Tornados or C-130s. The Brazilian Air Force relies on Embraer aircraft as much as it can. Many of its Gripens are being assembled by Embraer in Brazil, and the Brazilian Air Force is the largest customer of the new Embraer C-390 transport aircraft.
Italy still has around 30 Tornados remaining in service, which are being phased out and replaced by its new F-35s.
Shocking incidents of US and Russian warplane part theft
The incident recalls the US’s decision to scrap and destroy its retired F-14 Tomcats, along with all their associated components. This was in an effort to prevent the inevitable smuggling of components to sanctioned Iran to keep its legacy fleet of Tomcats flying.
Even so, some Tomcat parts found themselves in enthusiasts’ collections, and efforts to export parts to Iran were still interdicted by the US.
Perhaps one of the more eye-catching stories in recent years came in 2020, when the BBC reported that parts were stolen from a rare Russian Ilyushin Il-80 “Doomsday” aircraft. The Il-80 is a survivable command centre in the event of a nuclear war and is the Russian counterpart to the US Air Force E-4B Nightwatch.
The thieves entered the Russian Il-80 through the cargo hatch and stole 39 pieces of radio equipment and some electronic circuit boards. The thieves’ fingerprints were found on the aircraft, and they were arrested the following year.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
