C-130J and C-27J of the 46th Airborne Brigade in flight to transport medical material throughout the country
An operational and logistical effort of great importance, the one implemented last night by the Air Force in the context of the activities to combat Covid-19 wanted by the Minister of Defense Lorenzo Guerini.
At the specific request of the Defense Staff, in fact, four airplanes - three C-130Js and one C-27J of the 46th Pisa Air Brigade - were used simultaneously to transport 27 tons of medical material from Malpensa and Fiumicino to the Venice airports. , Cagliari, Palermo, Lamezia Terme and Bari.
In the last 24 hours alone there have been six flights for the transport of material and medical equipment carried out by the Air Force aircraft, an airlift that has been in place for a few days at the request of the Civil Protection to recover material, both in Italy and at abroad, and transfer it as soon as possible to the regions and centers most affected by the emergency.
These interventions are added to the bio-containment transport that the Air Force is carrying out with the air rescue helicopters of the 15th Wing of Cervia and the assets of the 46th Brigade of Pisa, transformed for the occasion into real ambulances of the sky with specialized teams of doctors and nurses on board.
These are specific Air Force capabilities that are part of the wider range of capabilities and support structures made available by the Armed Forces in support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Health and Civil Protection.
The structures and crews are in a state of operational alert, 24 hours a day, ready to leave in a very short time. The activities are coordinated by the Air Operations Command of Poggio Renatico (Ferrara), the nerve center of the Armed Force who, through its Air Operation Center, is responsible for receiving and evaluating requests that can from time to time come from hospitals, prefectures or, in this case in a centralized way, by the Civil Defense, translating them into mission orders for the designated flight departments.