Dual carrier operations for the ITCSG with the Indian Navy

(To Marina Militare)
08/10/24

the carrier strike groups Italian, engaged in its first operational campaign in the Indo-Pacific, carried out two days of training in the waters of the Indian Ocean with one of the two aircraft carriers of the Indian Navy, the Vikramaditya and its MIG-29K carrier-based aircraft, Flurry and AWACS belonging to the "Black Panther" squadron, and with the destroyer Visakhapatnam and the Su-30MKI aircraft of the Indian Air Force.

The activity, planned in detail in the days preceding the departure from the port of Mormugao, in the Indian state of Goa, and punctuated by crew exchange and key leader engagement (KLE), took place between air defense exercises (ADEX), live fire exercises with larger calibers (GUNEX), cross-deck, as well as close-range cinematic maneuvers and COC and bridge activities.

Extremely rewarding for pilots carrier air wing of the Italian Navy embarked on the aircraft carrier Cavour, which also includes pilots from the 32nd Wing of the Italian Air Force on board with 2 F-35B aircraft, was the flight activity that saw aircraft with very different characteristics compete. Activities like these allow for a comparison on the field between different means and tactics, even those far from NATO standards, and are therefore harbingers of developments and improvements as well as a fundamental opportunity to test the procedures in force.

This training opportunity, which is fully part of the strategic partnership between Italy and India, has once again demonstrated the strong interoperability characteristics of the carrier strike groups Italian.

Such markedly multinational and joint activities represent an excellent training opportunity for the crews of the Navy's naval team, which is present, with its ships, simultaneously and daily in several seas and oceans of the world.

 “It has been a privilege to train and work with the Indian Navy – he said from aboard the ship Cavour Rear Admiral Giancarlo Ciappina, commander of the Italian Carrier Strike Group. A precious opportunity that aimed to develop our interoperability with important partners, as already done in other interactions carried out in recent months. We have strengthened cooperation to guarantee the safety of international spaces and freedom of navigation and consolidated the joint and multi-national expeditionary sea-based capacity, with particular reference to the logistical support capabilities for complex air-naval devices in areas of unusual orbit".