The Italian peninsula is washed by the sea for about 80% of its borders, so it is clear that an effective control of its territorial waters is of fundamental importance for the economy and national strategic interests.
Considering that its over 7.500 km of coastline are projected towards the center of the Mediterranean, it is evident how the Navy plays a crucial role in the stability of the area, giving Italy a key role in the balance of the region.
The Navy has a fixed-wing air component - capacity that less than a dozen Marine in the world can express - based on STOVL airplanes (Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing) AV-8B Plus Harrier II.
Within the various levels that make up the defense of the fleet, i Harrier they constitute the outermost one and therefore they would be the first to face a possible threat, both air and surface. Indeed, one of his roles is the naval strike, with the use of laser guided or dual armament (such as the GBU-54 bomb, which starts with GPS guidance, based on the initial coordinates and then acquire a laser trace in the terminal path).
The AV-8B - advanced 3 generation aircraft - can perform many missions, but can not perform SEAD missions simultaneously (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) and DEAD (Destruction of Enemy Air Defenses): F-35 is able to do this.
The on board instrumentation of the new fighter is much more complex and will require an increase of work for the pilot in the management of these systems, but at the same time flying the aircraft will be much simpler, thanks to the high level of automation.
The Navy has scheduled the replacement of the Harrier with 15 F-35B Lightning II. During the online phase there will be a period of coaching with the first F-35Bs underway phase-in (the entry to the operational role), with the definitive takeover of new aircraft set in 2023 - subject to further expansion in the times caused by budget cuts - when the number of F-35 will be such as to guarantee an IOC (initial operating capacity) and allow to definitively dispose of the AV-8B fleet.
Initially the F-35 provided were 22, then reduced to 15 (on the aircraft carrier Cavour a flight group of 12 aircraft will be boarded). In our opinion, the numbers are too small, given that at the beginning of the next decade the new LHD will be put online Trieste, with a displacement of 33.000 tons, then a possible additional platform for the F-35B.
It is to be hoped that also the Air Force aircraft (additional 15 F-35B) will be qualified for the installation on the Cavour, in the framework of collaboration and joint training that characterizes the Italian Armed Forces, and aimed at controlling such an important basin at national and international level as the Mediterranean Sea.
Photo: Navy / US Marine Corps
