Il Incursion Operational Group (GOI) carried out, in compliance with anti-covid regulations, a complex exercise in the context of naval counter-terrorism, aimed at testing the intervention capabilities in terms of readiness, projection and engagement. Specifically, assuming a scenario for which it was necessary to launch a hostage release operation (HRO - Hostage Rescue Operation) on an Italian merchant unit seized in international waters and at a great distance from the motherland, a GOI assault team consisting of a Special Operations Task Unit (SOTU) took off from the military airport of Pisa aboard a C130J aircraft of the Italian Air Force to reach the area of operation with a free fall air launch, together with rigid keel dinghies (RHIB) type Zodiac Hurricane 7.33, also launched with Puribad technique (Platform Unit Rigid Inflatable Boat Air Delivery).
This insertion capacity is called Maritime Craft Aerial Delivery System (MCADS) and guarantees the GOI the possibility to intervene anywhere with the utmost speed, through dedicated air-naval devices of the Navy and which allow the necessary support for the conduct of special operations in the maritime domain. This is therefore a particularly valuable asset for which the Navy Raiders are in constant readiness for interventions both in Italy and abroad in competition with the Ministry of the Interior.
The conduct of these operations is also a virtuous model of profound synergy joint with the other Armed Forces for the strategic projection of the GOI teams, through the precious contribution represented by the 46th Air Force Air Brigade and the battalion Avio of the Army Parachute Brigade.
