On the morning of Thursday 19 December, two aircraft Euro Fighter of the 37th Trapani Wing took off on an alarm, technically called a “scramble”, to identify a commercial aircraft coming from Turkey and headed to Tunis that had lost radio contact with the national civil air traffic authorities while crossing Italian airspace. Shortly after 11am the order for immediate take-off was given by the CAOC (combined air operation centre) of Torrejon in Spain, the NATO entity responsible for the area, under the control of the 11th Group Integrated Missile Air Defense (DAMI) of Poggio Renatico.
Having reached the aircraft, an Airbus, in a few minutes, thanks to the coordinates and information provided by the "fighter guide" personnel on the ground, the expected "visual identification" (VID) procedure was carried out to ensure that there were no emergency conditions or threats to safety. After having carried out all the necessary checks with the air traffic control bodies, radio contact was restored, the two fighters returned to Trapani, resuming their shift of readiness on the ground as part of the national airspace surveillance service.
The Italian Air Force ensures 24 hours a day, 24 days a year, without interruption, surveillance of the national airspace, through a complex air defense system integrated since peacetime with that of other NATO countries. The order for immediate take-off, in jargon scramble, is given by the CAOC (combined air operation centre) of Torrejon (Spain), responsible for the surveillance service of the airspace of southern Europe, to the operations rooms of the 365th DAMI group of Poggio Renatico (FE) and the 11nd DAMI group of Licola (NA). The two groups are placed, through the DAMI department, under the control of the aerospace control brigade which carries out the functions of service provider and reference of the Armed Forces, through the aerospace operations command, in the sectors of Integrated Missile Air Defense and coordination and control of operational air traffic.
The 37th Wing depends on the Air Squadron Command through the Combat Forces Command. Its mission is to ensure, through the aircraft Euro Fighter assigned to the wing, the air defense of the area of national interest, contributing to the control, since peacetime, of the relative airspace and carrying out air defense operations in the assigned areas, within the framework of participation in international operations for the prevention and management of the crisis.