Col. Giorgio Seravalle, chief of air operations for the Italian air force, says three attempts have been made previously to try and certify the KC-767 aerial tanker to refuel the F-16.
By Gian Marco Anzellotti from Roma [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
It is not known when the clearance will happen. Past attempts to get clearance using Dutch, Norwegian and Polish F-16s have failed as the manufacturers did not exchange data that is necessary for the flight trials.