In full compliance with the health legislation in force for the containment of the spread of CoViD-19, the amphibious anti-aircraft exercise called "Blu River 2021" has just ended, in which, in the week just passed, the units of 17 ° “Sforzesca” anti-aircraft artillery regiment of Sabaudia.
The activity, with over 50 men and women of the short / very short range missile group, took place in the Pontine area that goes from Borgo Faiti to the Hermitage of San Francesco, in the municipality of Sermoneta, where the infiltrated units carried out a night patrol among the vegetation and the streets of the medieval village, covering more than 8 km of navigation in the Cavata river, and then deploy at an altitude of 400 meters above sea level and simulate the defense from enemy air attacks with the STINGER missile system for more than 72 hours consecutive.
The places that were the scene of violent battles during the Second World War, where the guns of the counter-aircraft of the time contributed validly to the protection of the territory, have recently welcomed state-of-the-art missile systems and radar for airspace control supplied to the departments of Army anti-aircraft artillery, for the occasion deployed in the training area of Foce Verde (LT), together with the battery command post.
The "Blu River 2021" represented the opportunity to put to the test and test the multiple capacities of action of the 17th "Sforzesca" regiment, operational department of the Anti-aircraft artillery command (COMACA) able to move easily in both amphibious and mountain environments. In this context, the exercise represented the culmination of an intense planning activity conducted in the previous weeks.
River patrol, insertion through waterways, as well as the ability to operate in a maritime environment, together with the assets of the Italian Landing Force, are the prerogatives of the units that are part of the National Projection Screening Capacity (CNPM) in which the anti-aircraft unit of the Army has been an integral part since 2006.
In particular, in the context of combat support, the use of the STINGER missile batteries of the 17th anti-aircraft artillery regiment was envisaged, today under the leadership of Colonel Daniele Reale, appointed to provide the defense at very low altitude of the Landing Force. The need to have a "covering umbrella" from threats coming from the sky and able to effectively and adherely protect the troops on the ground, finds natural acceptance in the STINGER weapon system and the soldiers of the "Sforzesca" are the main actors .
