The best definition of intelligence is "ability to adapt" to changes, contexts, unforeseen novelties. This quality, despite some nice "Italianness", characterizes our armed forces.
At this point, however, I must tell you an anecdote ...
A few years ago, it was 2015, I was getting interested in drones, commercial ones in particular. Because? They were used in war areas such as the Syrian one ...
During a discussion on the subject with a friend, a capable and resolute soldier, he told me: “I'd rather know Here in Italy how should you go about it. For example, what if a drone flies over my barracks? What should I do? I ... shoot! "
Given the doubt of a man in uniform I - informally - turned the question: "What is the procedure in case of a drone overflight of a military area?", to the press offices of each armed force. The answers were promptly - or the next day - very "Italian": we generally went from honest "Andrea, there is no procedure ..." in the singular and very paraculous “It definitely exists! But being classified, it cannot be disclosed ... "
The idea that I got (does it seem strange?) Is that no one had seriously considered the problem yet. I would have liked to publish a critical article to raise awareness of the potential risks, however the possibility that some idiot would get strange ideas about the "improper" use of a drone made me desist from writing ...
I like to think that our military have not underestimated the criticality brought to their attention and, after taking note, they have studied, investigated and dealt with it!
But maybe it was really "classified" or in the process of being resolved ...
In any case, today, thanks to a mentality that (when it can) does not throw the dust under the carpet, Italy has even a Center of Excellence dedicated to the specific threat. The constitution took place in 2019 with personnel from the Counter-Aircraft Artillery Command.
In a few years it has already been used to guarantee the safety of numerous events and demonstrations.
To understand the development, commitments and characteristics of the department, we went to COMACA in Sabaudia. The director of the Center of Excellence, Colonel Giorgio Cozzolino, who in the previous days had already shown unparalleled patience and willingness to answer many of our questions by telephone, agreed to explain the joint department personally to the readers of Online Defense.
Good vision!
Photo: Online Defense / Italian Army
