The Italian Air Force took part in “Fighting Wyveryn 25-1”, a multinational exercise conducted by the US Air Force, which took place in recent weeks in dedicated areas in the airspace of Italy, Croatia and Slovenia.
The flight activity, conducted by F16 aircraft of the 31st Fighter Wing (USAFE) of the Aviano air base with the aim of training the crews in a context Agile Combat Employment (ACE) and within contested and degraded operational scenarios, F-35 aircraft participated Lightning II e Tornado of the 6th wing of Ghedi and aircraft Euro Fighter of the 51st wing of Istrana. In this context, technical-logistical activities were also carried out, in complete integration between the wing component and the US one, which allowed to test the response capabilities in situations that require a prompt activation and integration between Allied Armed Forces. In particular, the activity of “hot pit refueling” of the F16 aircraft by the specialists of the 31stst FW, in collaboration with the personnel of the 3rd Wing of Villafranca and colleagues of the 51st Wing, has allowed the consolidation of techniques and procedures relating to the specific refueling capacity in highly operational contexts.
The military flight activity was controlled by the departments of the aerospace control brigade of the aerospace operations command of Poggio Renatico (FE). In detail, it was managed, for the air traffic aspects, by the AM Coordination and Control Service. (SCC/AM) of Abano (PD); while the Italian air defense units of the 11th DAMI group of Poggio Renatico and 22nd DAMI group of Licola (NA) supported the event by increasing the air surveillance capacity and the exchange of tactical data via Link16 systems.
The exercise event contributed to the process of integration of the Armed Forces with other allied nations, in particular through specific exercise events such as in-flight refueling missions (Air to Air Refueling) with US support aircraft, and to the operational integration between 4th and 5th generation aircraft. The activity allowed the crews involved to compare and improve operational procedures and tactics, an objective also underlined by the commander of the Aviano airport command, Colonel Salvatore La Luce: “Our ability to integrate operations and counter emerging threats together with our allies is critical as only by training together can we continuously improve.”
The “Fighting Wyveryn 25-1” represents an important opportunity to achieve training/exercise objectives of different levels and types, as well as an occasion to promote the standardization and consolidation of the operational tactics of the entire “Fighter” component in a multinational context, while increasing the spirit of cooperation and sharing.
