The bilateral Italian-Moroccan exercise, called ITA-MOR 13, took place in Taranto from 21 to 24 November. It was divided into two phases, one in port and one livex at sea in the waters of the Gulf. The recently concluded edition, which is part of a series of events that are renewed every two years, is part of the collaborative activities that the Navy carries out with the Navies of the coastal countries of North Africa with the aim of increasing and consolidating the cooperation and interoperability capabilities between them.
This year's edition, led by Italy, was planned and coordinated by the command of the second naval division and saw the participation of the multipurpose combat ship “Francesco Morosini", a security team of the marine brigade Saint Mark and an SH-90 helicopter from the 4th Grottaglie group.
The Moroccan counterpart instead participated with a Dutch-built frigate of the class Sigma, “Tarik Ben Ziyad", a security team and a helicopter type Panther.
The activities at sea were preceded by a joint acclimatization and planning phase conducted in the port of Taranto, during which briefings were presented, face-to-face meetings were held between crews and specialist teams, visits were held to the bridge simulator of the Navy's naval air training center and, last but not least, exchanges between crews, socio-cultural events such as a visit to the city's Aragonese castle and recreational-sporting events at the naval station facilities. Great Sea.
Multiple training topics were addressed during the livex phase of the exercise, which took place at sea from 18 to 21 November.
In fact, the activities of surveillance and control of merchant traffic, the fight against illicit activities at sea, conducting boarding exercises with the insertion of a security team from a helicopter, cinematic maneuvers, reactions to asymmetric attacks conducted by fast boats and helicopters, air defense and damage control exercises and passive defense.
The joint training between the flight crews and the relevant bridge teams was also fruitful, allowing the two helicopters to conduct approaches, fast rope descents of personnel and to finalise landings of the Moroccan helicopter on the deck of the ship. Morosini.
The ITA-MOR series exercises are part of a broader and partnership dimension aimed at strengthening international cooperation, in a context of shared security and in response to the renewed challenges affecting the strategic chessboard of the Mediterranean.
