After the short logistic stop in the port of Rota (Spain), Nave Cavour began the Atlantic crossing that will take her to Norfolk on the east coast of the United States, leaving Europe and the Mediterranean Sea in her stern wake.
Departed from the Mar Grande Naval Station in Taranto last January 28, with the greeting to the crew of the Minister of Defense Lorenzo Guerini accompanied on board by the Chief of Defense Staff, General Enzo Vecciarelli, by the Chief of Staff of the Navy, Admiral of team Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, and by the commander-in-chief of the naval team, Admiral Paolo Treu, the flagship of the Italian Navy oriented the bow in the direction of the naval base of the second US fleet in Virginia, for the campaign called "Ready For Operations" (RFO), to begin the certification process for the operational use of the brand new aircraft of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) F-35B program.
The "strategic" importance of the Ship Campaign Cavour has been repeatedly emphasized by the Chief of Staff of the Navy who highlighted how "These commitments, with a very high technical-operational content" are "Fundamental to strengthen the peculiar expeditionary potential enabling the entire national military instrument" as it encompasses the strategic capabilities to project and use all-round military potential to protect national interests and at a great distance from national bases: thanks to the speed of intervention, logistical autonomy and the availability of various operational support capabilities.
"It certainly is - Minister Guerini said from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier during his greeting to the crew - of an activity of a technical-operational nature, but with important implications on the strategic-military level for Defense and for the country on the international scene. A result that would not have been achieved without the tenacity, professionalism, self-denial of women and men who strongly believe in their profession and mission, ready to demonstrate their skills on every occasion, generous and extraordinary 'professionals of the sea' ".
The aircraft carrier Cavour, under the command of the vessel captain Giancarlo Ciappina and with a crew of about 600, men and women from every region of Italy, who, despite the adversities of the historical period due to the pandemic in progress, today sails to the USA to allow to Italy to strengthen its rank in the complex geostrategic framework in which we live.
