“The underwater world is increasingly important to national security and interests, and increasingly subject to hostile actions” states the Undersecretary of State for Defense Matteo Perego of Cremnago at the end of the inauguration of the National Underwater Dimension Center in La Spezia “The sabotage of the Nord Stream last autumn was the alarm bell that showed to a wider public what was already known within the Italian Defense, in terms of vulnerability of critical underwater infrastructures, difficulties in protecting against attacks and difficulties to attribute them".
“Submarine critical infrastructures, due to their extension” continues Perego "they cannot be manned and protected as happens for sensitive objectives on national territory, this requires a partnership between the Defense, in particular our Navy which has a long and solid tradition of capabilities for submarine warfare, the operators of critical infrastructures , and relevant stakeholders".
"In this way" concludes the undersecretary "technological and operational synergies can be exploited, for example in terms of resilience of the assets, but also of submarine cables which can themselves become sensors to identify threats and activate a timely response by the armed force, the PNS is one of the pillars of this new partnership.
It will be a catalyst and accelerator of technological innovation, a table where large companies, SMEs, research centers and universities will cooperate with users of underwater, military and civil capabilities, to encourage synergies and experimentation, for the security and defense of the country, for the economy of the country, of the Italian system".
