THEItalian Carrier Strike Group, will participate from 20 to 28 February – in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea – in the Neptune Strike 23 training activity, organized and conducted by the allied command STRIKFORNATO (Naval Striking and Support Forces BORN).
The Italian aircraft carrier group will operate jointly with the US and Spanish aircraft carrier groups and will consist of the aircraft carrier Cavour, the destroyer Caio Duilio and the ship Etna.
The activity is part of the broader scenario of Multi Carrier Operations (MCO) which by leveraging on the interoperability of aero-naval forces express a power multiplier in the deterrence and combat capability of the Atlantic Alliance.
The Italian Navy with the aircraft carrier Cavour, the Armada Espanola with the Landing Helicopter Dock Juan Carlos I and the US Navy with the aircraft carrier George W. Bush, will conduct sea power projection and air defense exercises, using the latest generation F-35B aircraft.
"After participating last May in the Neptune Shield 2022 surveillance activity, in which the Italian aircraft carrier group passed under the NATO chain of command for the first time, the Navy will also be alongside the Allies for Neptune Strike 2023, in continuity with the many initiatives of contribution, collaboration and support underway in the NATO and bi-multilateral contexts for the security of the Enlarged Mediterranean. A tangible demonstration of the sense of responsibility with which the Armed Forces guarantees its qualifying contribution to the commitments of active deterrence and maritime surveillance in an area of global strategic importance" commented the commander in chief of the naval squadron, Admiral Aurelio De Carolis.
"The presence of these devices in the Mediterranean highlights the ability to project power and overall readiness achieved by the Alliance, necessary to manage a particularly complex geopolitical and geostrategic scenario, such as the current one" reports the admiral of division Giacinto Sciandra - commander of theItalian Carrier Strike Group.
