Major General Igor Bruni

Major General Igor BRUNI serves as Flight Training Division Chief at the Air Education and Training Command (ItAF AETC).

Born in Torino, Italy, in 1973, he entered the Italian Air Force Academy in 1992. He earned his military pilot wings in 1997 at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, after attending the EuroNATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT). In the same year, he was assigned to the Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) for the AMX single-seater jet fighter-bomber at the 32nd Fighter Wing in Amendola.

In 1998, he started his operational career at the 2nd Fighter Wing, 14th Squadron, in Rivolto, where he became combat ready and took part in several NATO combat missions over the Former Yugoslavia, Bosnia, and Kosovo. In May 2001, he joined the Italian Flight Test Center, the Reparto Sperimentale Volo (RSV). He qualified as an Experimental Test Pilot in 2003 after graduating from the French Test Pilot School, EPNER (École du Personnel Navigant d'Essai et de Réception) in Istres, France.

From 2003 to 2009, he joined the Air to Ground Section at the Reparto Sperimentale Volo – 311th Squadron, taking part in numerous flight test programs across various Italian Air Force aircraft types. In particular, he served as Chief Project Pilot for the mid-life update (MLU) of the Tornado IDS, Tornado ECR, and AMX-ACOL fighter jets, contributing to weapon integration for Storm Shadow, Enhanced Laser Guided Bombs, JDAM, Litening POD, RecceLite POD, and Small Diameter Bomb, as well as software certification. As Project Pilot, he also participated in the development of the Advanced Lead-in Fighter Trainer M-346A and the certification for Italian tankers KC-130J and KC-767A, flying multiple envelope expansion flights. He served as Chief of the Air to Ground Section until 2009, subsequently working as Chief of the Operational Section (2010), Chief of the Operational Department (2011), and Chief of Operations for the Flight Test Center (2012), before serving as 311th Squadron Commander from 2013 to 2014.

His next assignment was at the Italian Flight Safety Inspectorate, where he graduated as a Flight Safety Officer and Inspector and became Chief of the Flight Safety Investigation Section for fighter jets. In April 2015, General Bruni was assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, USA, as Senior National Representative and Italian Training Supervisor for the F-35 program in the United States, receiving the Key to the City of Fort Walton Beach from the Mayor in 2019. He served as Commander of the Italian Air Force Test Wing from 2019 to 2021, as Deputy Chief of the 4th Department within Italian Air Force Headquarters from 2021 to 2022, and as Chief of the 4th Department from 2022 to 2025. From September 2025 to September 2026, he served as the first Commander of the Italian Air Force Air and Space Warfare Centre, and since September 2026 has been serving as Flight Training Division Chief at ItAF AETC.