Is Sicily going to become NATO's most important base?

06/03/15

"The alliance was ready to advise the Libyan government on defense and security, the deteriorating situation in the country could lead to new threats to European security. This requires constant defense and massive surveillance ”.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, visiting Rome last Thursday, stated that the Alliance plans to strengthen its intelligence capacity, using from next year, the drones deployed at the Sigonella air base in Sicily.

"NATO acted under a United Nations mandate to protect civilians and ensure compliance with the No Fly Zone imposed on Libya during the Muammar Gaddafi regime. The mission ended in October of the 2011. Now the situation is out of control, with two separate governments and several armed groups, including some affiliated with the Islamic State ".

Stoltenberg then admitted that "a greater international presence would have been needed in Libya since the fall of the regime and that NATO has always been available to help the country".

"What is happening in Libya as well as the conflict in Ukraine is yet another demonstration that substantial investments are needed to guarantee that capacity for self-defense and emergency response, which has disappeared with the end of the Cold War, with cuts being reduced in the Defense. The world has changed. We have seen new threats and new challenges. In Ukraine, we enforced the ceasefire and asked Russia to withdraw the heavy weapons deployed. Over the past few months, Russia has transferred more than a thousand weapon systems into tanks, artillery and airplanes. They will have to withdraw their army and stop supporting the separatists. Any attempt to further expand the territory in the hands of the separatists would be a clear violation of the ceasefire. And it would be unacceptable for the international community ".

The role of Sigonella

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg mentioned Sigonella, but did not mention the AGS program.

Let's try to expose it briefly. Sigonella, in Sicily, is the heart of the Alliance Ground Surveillance, probably the most important asset of NATO for intelligence missions, surveillance and reconnaissance (Joint Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance - JISR).

The Sicilian base will obtain the Initial Operational Capacity in the 2017 with Full Operational Capability in the 2018 (although Stoltenberg spoke of operations as early as next year).

The AGS consists of two segments: the aerial one based on the Hale robotic platform (High-Altitude Long-Endurance Unmanned Aircraft System) Globak Hawk RQ-4 Block 40 and the one on the ground which is entrusted with both the mission control capacity and analysis, distribution and storage of data.

Sigonella, therefore, will host both the MOS or Mission Operation Support and the Air Vehicle Missions Command and Control (AVMC2), including the entire logistics system.

The first contractor of the AGS program is Northrop Grumman which signed in May 2012 a $ 1,7 billion contract for a fleet of five Global Hawks with MP-RTIP radars. The primary industrial team includes EADS Deutschland GmbH (Cassidian), Selex Galileo and Kongsberg, ICZ, AS, Retia, AS, Aktors OÜ, Komerccentrs DATA grupa, Elsis LTD., Konstrukta-Difesa, AS, COMTRADE DOO, Bianor, Technologica, ZTA AD, SELEX ELSAG, Elettra Communications, UTI Systems and SES. The 15 participating nations are Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United States. All 28 nations of the alliance will support the long-term program.

The air segment of the AGS program will be based on the RQ-4 drone, capable of flying at maximum 60.000 feet for more than 32 hours at speeds close to 340 nodes, well above the airspace occupied by commercial traffic.

The RQ-4 can operate two thousand nautical miles from its main base of operations. It is considered the best existing robotic platform for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions able to monitor one hundred thousand square kilometers of land in a single day.

The MP-RTIP high-definition synthetic aperture radar is able to detect and track every object on the ground and low-level cruise missiles.

On the subject of interoperability with NATO systems, we cannot fail to mention the MUOS of the US Navy, a new-generation narrow-band tactical satellite communication system between US forces on the move.

The MUOS was designed to provide the military with greater communication capabilities than existing systems. The four satellites (plus one in reserve) MUOS in geostationary orbit, are equipped with Code Division Multiple Access broadband (WCDMA), with 16 transmission speed times greater than the current Ultra High Frequency (UHF) satellite system.

Each MUOS satellite is also fully compatible with previous frequencies used to ensure a smooth transition in WCDMA technology, retiring the UFO system (UHF Follow-On).

The four ground stations are associated with a satellite. The former is located at the Australian Defense Satellite Communications Station, in Kojarena, about 30 km east of Geraldto. The second one at Niscemi, at 60 km from Sigonella's Naval Air Station. The third in Southeast Virginia and the fourth in Hawaii.

It would be correct to say that Sigonella, in a few months, will become one of the main bases of the United States Navy and certainly the most important of NATO.

Franco Iacch