The first joint exercise between the Air Force and the Guardia di Finanza to integrate and improve cooperation between the two institutions for an effective fight against the air threat ended today, Wednesday 14 December. In the specific case, the interception and identification of an ultralight aircraft in transit in the Italian Air Space used for the transport of illicit material was simulated.
In recent years the system of National Air Defense it has been found more and more frequently to face threats of an asymmetrical nature represented also by assets or carriers characterized by limited performance, low maneuvering speed and flight conducted at low / very low altitude.
To counteract this reality, the need to find ever greater synergies between all the military components and armed bodies of the State for an effective contrast to the aero-scope threat described above is evident. In this sense, it is of fundamental importance to foresee common training and exercise events that involve all the articulations mentioned in the commitment to contrast the violation of national and territorial airspace, elements that are synergistic in the competition for the protection of legality in the State.
The exercise has verified the ability both to employ weapon systems, air bases, radar sensors and support personnel for the contrast of an asymmetric air threat and of management through the Air Force Command and Control system in competition with the Commands and means of the Guardia di Finanza.
The Italian Air Force used both Air Traffic Control and Air Defense Control Units and aircraft: 2 F-2000 of the 36 ° Wing of Gioia del Colle (BA), 1 T-346 of Lecce's 61 ° Wing, 1 HH-139 helicopter of the 84 ° SAR Center (Search And Rescue) of Gioia del Colle, 1 S-208 aircraft of the 60 ° Wing of Guidonia that played the role of the ultralight aircraft to be identified.
For the Guardia di Finanza, the exercise was coordinated at national level by the Operations Center of the General Command of the Guardia di Finanza and involved the Provincial Commands of Bari and Lecce, the Aeronaval Operations Department of Bari, as well as the Aeronavale Group of Taranto, with the activation of an A109N helicopter of the Bari Air Section and an AB412HP helicopter of the Grottaglie Maneuver Aerial Section and two self-assembled patrols of the Provincial Command of Lecce.
The simulated scenario has provided, in summary, an activation of the Air Operations Command (COA) of the Italian Air Force by the Operational Center of the General Command of the Guardia di Finanza concerning the probable departure of an air carrier, coming from Albania and directed towards the Italian coasts, suspected of illegal trafficking.
Subsequently, the radar systems of the AM identified a suspect aircraft, near the Apulian airspace, and therefore the COA has taken steps to activate the National Air Defense device. The objective was intercepted by the aircraft of the Italian Air Force, which after the initial monitoring activity handed it over to the Air Corps of the Corps, which proceeded to shade it secretly until it landed at the airfield. di Fondone (LE), where the patrols of the Provincial Command of Lecce intervened for the consequent judicial police activities.
The Guardia di Finanza, in the context of the daily activities of economic and financial police in defense of the economic and financial interests of the State and the European Union, has often found, in the context of the action to combat illicit international traffic, these types of events, in particular, with the involvement of aircraft of limited dimensions that, starting from neighboring countries, head towards the Italian airspace.
