On October 25, 2023, Ship Antonio Marceglia left the port of Riga, thus returning to sail in the waters of the Baltic Sea where it is engaged in maritime security and air defense activities in the NATO operation "Brilliant Shield". The mission began on 26 July 2023 with the rotation with Ship Caio Duilio and entry into the NATO system: the stop in Latvia, a country where an Italian naval unit had not visited since 2004, thus marking three months of intense and continuous commitment by the unit.
The redeployment along the "Eastern flank" of the Alliance appears to be extremely dynamic and sensitive, as well as strategically relevant, and takes the form of constant presence and surveillance in order to contribute to the maintenance of international security, guarantee the integrity of communication routes, safeguard NATO territory and interests.
This three-dimensional surveillance takes place above and below the surface of the sea and in the airspace and demonstrates the great versatility and broad spectrum of capabilities of this class of ships. To date the Marceglia it is the second ship, after the Duilio, to have successfully concluded the process Readiness Verification of NATO, thus allowing it to be fully integrated into the Alliance's air and missile defense system.
During these months of intense operational deployment, the most modern FREMM (European Multi-Mission Frigate) of the "Bergamini" class stopped in Gdynia and Świnoujście (Poland), Malmö (Sweden), Copenhagen (Denmark), Rostock (Germany) and in the port of Helsinki (Finland).On these occasions the Unit conducted numerous naval diplomacy activities, flying the Italian flag in many ports of countries bordering the Baltic, contributing to strengthening relations with these Nations.
In the near future, Ship Antonio Marceglia will continue in its mission by cooperating with allied assets present in the area to ensure the security of NATO's maritime communication routes and airspace in the Baltic region.
