The joint exercise involving the F-35B assets of the Navy and the Air Force took place today at the Pantelleria airport detachment.
Today's training event is fully part of the joint capacity development process, strongly supported by the Minister of Defense Lorenzo Guerini and sanctioned a further step forward in the integration process of fifth generation multirole aircraft, started with the recent international exercise which saw the aircraft carrier engaged Cavour of the Navy and F-35B of the Navy and of the Air Force together with the British aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth.
In particular, the exercise was aimed at increasing capacity expeditionary from the ground through the use of an "austere" base not suitable for the flight operations of conventional take-off aircraft.
Present at the event were the Defense Chief of Staff, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, the Navy Chief of Staff, Team Admiral Enrico Credendino and the Air Force Chief of Staff, Air Squad General Luca Goretti.
The Chief of Defense Staff, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, said he was particularly satisfied and highlighted “The goal is to achieve expeditionary capacity both from land and from on board the Naval Units using the F-35B assets of the Navy and the Air Force in an integrated and synergistic manner, in compliance with the prerogatives of the Chiefs of the Armed Forces. There will be increasingly profitable synergies that will allow a unitary use of the STOVL capacity that is, depending on the reference domain, the F 35 B can be sold under the operational control of one or the other Armed Force, always responding to the Head of State. Major of Defense through the Operational Command of the Joint Forces Summit. "
Taking advantage of the features Short takeoffs and vertical landings (STOVL), the F-35B assets of the two Armed Forces landed at the Pantelleria "expeditionary" airport detachment and carried out a ground refueling activity with the engines running, in technical jargon "hot-pit", from a KC-130J aircraft of the 46th Air Brigade of Pisa, through the particular ALARP system (Air Landed Aircraft Refueling Point).
Following this, based on an operational / exercise scenario, the two F-35Bs and 2 additional EF2000s conducted complex operations known as COMAO, Composite Air Operations. Among these is that of Close Air Support (CAS) to the Surface Forces through ground JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller) cores, and aerial interdiction with strategic and tactical management carried out by the G550 CAEW aircraft of the 14th wing. In addition, he took part in the exercise by offering refueling a KC767A aircraft.
