An F-2000 fighter Euro Fighter of the Air Force, in readiness for the airspace surveillance service, got up quickly this morning from the Istrana air base (TV), home of the 51st Wing, to intercept a German ultralight taken off from Austria and directed in Italy without being in possession of the required flight plan, a document that every aircraft coming from a foreign state and bound for the national airspace is obliged to have.
Once in the area concerned, the F-2000 fighter Euro Fighter identified the civil aircraft south of Bibione, in the province of Venice, and escorted it to the Litorale di Caorle Airfield (VE), where the ultralight was actually headed. The competent area carabinieri intervened on the spot for the required security checks. The civilian pilot, in addition to not having formally notified the details of the planned flight plan, took off with the transponder - or the electronic system for identifying the route on board the aircraft - in failure.
The complex defense system by which the Air Force ensures the surveillance of the national airspace without interruption is integrated, even in times of peace, with that of the other countries belonging to NATO.
