At the training area of the 6th Alpine regiment of Villa Bassa (BZ) in the presence of the commander of the Alpine Troops of the Italian Army gen. ca Claudio Berto and dr. Luca Andreoli general manager of Defense Services, eng. Mariano Roman, managing director of Fantic Motor, a leading Italian two-wheeler company and iconic “off-road” brand, has delivered n. 9 pedal assisted bicycles (e-bikes) in a tactical configuration, specially set up for intensive use on mountain trails and in a snowy environment.
The desire to proceed with the use of this modern means of locomotion in an operational key stems from the recent experiences gained in the "Alpine Troops' mountaineering raids" which have brought to light the need to provide the Alpine platoons and reconnaissance nuclei with suitable means for mobility, with low environmental and acoustic impact, such as to be able to travel medium-mountain routes in a short time in the modern context of Mountain warfare.
Today's delivery of electric bikes by Fantic is part of the military assets enhancement activities conducted by Difesa Servizi SpA, which, in agreement with the prestigious Italian company of Treviso, will allow the Alpine brigades "Julia" and "Taurinense" to conduct adequate experimentation to define the characteristics in terms of performance and effectiveness for the purposes of tactical use ("Effectiveness"). “We are satisfied with the start of this experimentation between our Alpine and Fantic troops. - declared the managing director of Difesa Servizi SpA the lawyer Fausto Recchia - "It opens the way for a new and important activity of Difesa Servizi SpA in the field of testing for the civil industry, which simultaneously allows our Armed Forces to evaluate new tools and new technologies of potential interest, reaffirming the central role and driving force that the military world has always had in progress and innovation ".
The training for the Alpini in arms, as natural custodians of the operational movement in the mountains, with this operational experimentation will in the near future be able to make use of a new tool to be integrated among the means available and in the evolution of traditional mountain combat techniques.
The use of the electric bike and the horizon of the experimentation could also constitute a further factor of capacitive and cognitive development in the field of the use of alternative sources of energy, also at joint and international level, given the interest shown in the activity to be part of the NATO Center of Excellence for Energy Security (NATO ENSEC COE, LITHUANIA), with which a collaboration has been established, aimed at deepening the studies on the use of e-bikes in a tactical - operational environment.
"The partnership with the Alpine Troops and Defense Services is a reason of particular pride for Fantic" - said Eng Roman, CEO of the Venetian company, on the sidelines of the presentation. "For some time now we have strategically embarked on the path of sustainability, through the production of a range of electric vehicles of great quality, performance and design and the" stress test "of the Alpini will allow us to acquire even more data for a continuous improvement of the product".
For general Claudio Berto “The Alpine troops have in their mobility one of the points that substantiate their ability to face the difficulties of operating in a challenging and highly selective environment such as the mountain one. The movement on foot and on skis, although irreplaceable in many circumstances, is only one of the possibilities; technology, forest roads, and the experiences of athletes and two-wheel enthusiasts on trails and dirt roads have opened up the Mountain Bike dimension to us, making it possible and plausible to use e-bikes for military purposes even in those places that fatigue and slopes made inaccessible. In this we resume in a modern key a discourse that started in 1898 with the first Bersaglieri cyclists departments was interrupted in 1943. The tradition continues and the race too ".
