The "blue helmets" of the Italian contingent in Lebanon participated in the "Steel storm 2020", a joint and multinational exercise, which from 5 to 9 October saw the maneuvering units of the military contingents of Unifil and the Lebanese armed forces (LAF ).
The exercise takes place every six months in a polygon not far from Naqoura, the headquarters of the Unifil mission command. Shooting lessons with individual and departmental armament and joint firing activities were held with the Italian-led UN brigade and the 5th brigade of the LAF.
The activity was aimed at improving the level of interoperability between the UN peacekeepers and the LAF soldiers, in view of an ever greater, effective and autonomous intervention capacity of the latter in Southern Lebanon.
For the West sector of Unifil, the assets of Italbatt (XVIII battalion "Poggio Scanno" of the 3rd Bersaglieri regiment of Teulada and 1st squadron group of the "Cavalleggeri Guide" regiment (19th) of Salerno) participated, maneuvering unit of the contingent Ghanaian, South Korean, Irish and Polish and of the 5th brigade of the LAF. About 50 Italian soldiers deployed in the shooting range and numerous weapons, weapon systems and vehicles used by the Italian Army, such as the Vtlm "Lince" and the Blindo "Centauro", which fired 105 mm NATO shells, including APFSDS-T (Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot -Tracer), with a range of about 2 kilometers.
The final stages of the exercise were attended by the head of mission and commander of Unifil, Major General Stefano Del Col, and the commander of the West sector, Brigadier General Andrea Di Stasio. Supporting the LAF, together with monitoring the cessation of hostilities and assisting the Lebanese population, is one of the main tasks assigned to the Italian contingent of Unifil in compliance with UN Security Council resolution 1701.
