“I congratulate you and your commanders for the professionalism with which you are carrying out the task assigned to you, far from Italy and your loved ones”, with these words, General of the Army Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, operational commander of the Joint Forces Summit, addressed the personnel of the Navy and the Air Force employed in operations in the waters of the Baltic Sea and in the skies of Lithuania, greeting of the Minister of Defense the Hon. Guido Crosetto.
The COVI commander concludes today an institutional visit that began last Monday, when he boarded the multi-mission frigate "Antonio Marceglia" (F 597), operationally sailing in the Gulf of Gdansk and part of the NATO operation "Brilliant Shield".
Welcomed on the flight deck by the ship's commander, frigate captain Alessandro Rispoli, General Figliuolo met the crew during the visit to the various rooms of the naval unit, from the propulsion operations center to the infirmary, from the command bridge to the torpedo tubes, up to the helicopter hangar, where he greeted all the personnel on board in a general assembly.
During the visit, General Figliuolo also attended training organized in concert with the combined air operations centre of Uedem and thearmed forces operational command of Warsaw relating to a simulated air threat with two Polish fighter aircraft to test the command and control capabilities of the ship's air defense systems.
from helicopter control room, the commander of COVI attended a training moment which saw operators from the "San Marco" marine brigade lower themselves onto the flight deck with the technique of fast rope, which is carried out by descending from a helicopter in stationary flight at an altitude that can vary from 5 to 15 metres.
Before leaving the ship, General Figliuolo expressed his satisfaction with the numerous activities of naval diplomacy conducted by the "Marceglia" and for the operational results achieved in the surveillance of the seas above and below the surface and in the airspace, demonstrating the great versatility and broad spectrum of capabilities of the frigate. “You have demonstrated that you are a cohesive crew, in possession of that competence and value that is historically typical of those who belong to the Italian Navy”, he concluded, urging the crew to always keep faith with the motto of their unit, "I DARE FOR EVERY UNDERTAKING", a phrase that calls for courage and a spirit of sacrifice.
Yesterday, the commander of COVI reached the Italian embassy in Warsaw, where he was received by ambassador Luca Franchetti Pardo. Followed by the office call with Major General Maciej Kliisz, operational commander of the Polish Armed Forces, with whom he discussed military cooperation between Italy and Poland for the strengthening of NATO's eastern flank, the security situation in the Balkans, Middle East and on the Ukrainian front.
In the evening, the arrival in Šiauliai, in Lithuania, where the Task Force Air “4th Wing – Baltic Horse III”, engaged in operations Air Policing of NATO.
The commander of the TFA, Colonel Federico Sacco Maino, welcomed General Figliuolo upon his arrival, and then accompanied him to a shelter on the flight line, where he was able to greet the Eurofighter crews Typhoon EF2000 and the technicians from the four wings of the national air defense: the 36th of Gioia del Colle, the 37th of Trapani, the 51st of Istrana and the 4th of Grossetto - which has the lead of the mission - and from all the others bodies and departments of the Air Force.
“You are a winning model from every point of view”, said the general, addressing the Italian soldiers, “the numbers speak for themselves: 51 aircraft identified, more than 800 hours of flight, 28 Alpha Scrambles carried out since 1 August 2023.
You have demonstrated that you have common sense, discernment and cold blood.". He then recalled that the activity of Air Policing it is the demonstration of NATO's ability to integrate the national air defense systems of the Alliance member countries into a single defensive system of our skies, which involves the joint use of surveillance, command and control systems, up to fighters interceptors.
Italy is present on the eastern flank of NATO and in the Balkans with more than 2.800 soldiers, deployed in Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia, Latvia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Lithuania, Poland and in the Baltic Sea.
All the activities carried out in the Operational Theater are arranged by the Chief of Defense Staff, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone and directed by the top joint operational command.
COVI is the defense high command responsible for the planning, coordination and direction of military operations in the land, maritime, air, space and cyber domains, as well as national and multinational joint exercises and related activities.
