Fifty years ago, in 1968, the "Navy Programming and Training Center for Automatic Systems for the Direction of Combat Operations" (MARICENSADOC) was born in Rome, with the task of supervising the development of the first naval command and control system Italian and to take care of the training of future operators, initially providing only support to private industry.
In 1970, once the need to have its own center for the development of operating software and for studies concerning the architecture of SADOC systems was recognized, MARICENSADOC was transferred to Taranto, within the area of the Aeronavale Training Center, assuming the current name of MARICENPROG, Programming Center of the Navy.
The importance of its history and activity were highlighted on Tuesday 3 July, during the ceremony of the 50th anniversary of the foundation. Chaired by the commander in chief of the naval team, team admiral Donato Marzano and attended by the prefect of the city of Taranto, dr. Donato Giovanni Cafagna, by representatives of the city institutions, of the companies that collaborate with the Navy in the development, design and maintenance of operational programs for the command and control systems of naval units and by a large group of former directors of the center, the brief but significant ceremony allowed to summarize the results achieved by the center in the development and support of the operational software of the naval team units and to illustrate future activities.
The center, directed by the captain of vessel Massimo Finelli, is hierarchical subordinate to the C4S command (Command, Control, Computer, Communications and Security) of the naval team, currently operates in the updating and adaptation of the third generation command and control systems (SADOC 3) that equip the FREMM class units and in the realization of the new system (SADOC 4) intended to equip newly built units. The center also provides the expertise for participation in International / NATO working groups concerning the interoperability and development of on-board automated command and control systems as well as the contribution to the training of the technical personnel involved in the conduct and maintenance of the on-board SADOC systems. .
Moreover, MARICENPROG recently participates in the development and production, based on the operational requirements established by the Staff and on the input of the brigade Saint Mark, software of the operational programs necessary for the "digitization of the battlefield", as part of the "Forza NEC" interforce project.
"50 years ago the creation of the center meant a leap in quality for the Navy, which began to equip itself with an entirely national operating system developed here", said Admiral Marzano in his greeting, "the added value was the move to Taranto, close to the ships and operators and within the MARICENTADD area, where the personnel were trained in the use of the systems: an effective choice that made it possible to combine the skills of the developers with the experiences of the staff who used the systems on board " .
The ceremony ended with the discovery of a commemorative plaque.
