The last training mission of the air assets participating in the exercise took place yesterday Trident Juncture 2015. The so-called "wave" of aircraft took off in the morning from the military airport of Trapani Birgi, home of the 37 ° Stormo and main reference air base for the exercise in Italy, to carry out the last exercise on the skies of Tyrrhenian Sea.
The mission involved Eurofighter, Tornado and AMX aircraft of the Italian Air Force, coming from all the Stormi, together with the F-16s of the allied air forces of Greece and Poland, as well as a Canadian C-130 for in-flight refueling of jets in training.
The exercise Trident Juncture saw the Italian Air Force at the forefront together with the allied countries, with the creation of training scenarios aimed above all at the development of interoperability between aeronautics of different nations. The operations involved the Trapani base, from where NATO AWACS aircraft also took off daily from the Forward Operating Base (FOB) to take part in missions with command and control functions from the sky.
Many departments participated in the exercise. The 46 ^ Air Brigade of Pisa operated with its C-130Js, which provided the tactical transport capability (for example for air raids). The 14 ° Stormo of Pratica di Mare supplied its KC-767A tanker assets, guaranteeing the in-flight refueling of the jets during the entire exercise. The 32 ° Stormo di Amendola, on the other hand, operated with the remote-controlled Predator aircraft, providing the operational packages with ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) capability. The HH139 and HH212 helicopters of Trapani, Cervia and Grazzanise, deployed on the Decimomannu base, carried out, together with Slovenian helicopters, infiltration / exfiltration training missions, MEDEVAC (medical evacuation) and Personnel Recovery.
To direct the operations a team NATO which, for tactical command and control, has availed itself of the Italian DARS, redeployed by the Mobile Command and Control Department of Bari Palese based on Trapani and the 22nd Gr.AM of Licola.
The LIVEX phase of the exercise, particularly complex due to the number of multinational structures, departments involved and the type of missions, was a remarkable training opportunity both for the number of lessons presented by all participants and for the significant level of planning and procedures and missions performed.
The commander of the air team also took part in the final wave, air team general Maurizio Lodovisi who expressed great satisfaction for the success of such a vast and complex exercise, which allowed to make important steps forward in terms of interoperability between the different air forces and tested a whole network consisting of highly advanced technologies.
