January 10, 2008: Italy has grounded its 70 AMX light bombers for safety inspections. This was not ordered by the Italian Air Force, but by s judge, who was investigating the crash of an AMXin 2005. Judges do stuff like that in Italy.

The AMX is a joint Italian-Brazilian effort. It is a 13 ton aircraft that can carry four tons of weapons. The AMX looks like a fighter (and can carry heat seeking air-to-air missiles), but it was designed for ground attack. It carries rockets, bombs, missiles and smart bombs. It is also equipped with an autocannon (20mm in the Italian version, 30mm in the Brazilian one). Some 200 AMX have been built since the aircraft entered service in 1989.The AMX can also be used as an advanced flight trainer. Italy has since disbanded two of its six AMX squadrons.