Defense: the second edition of the "open sea 2022" kicks off

The Open Sea exercise begins today, the second annual edition of the largest training event of the Navy, which will involve forces belonging to 5 NATO nations including ships and submarines, aircraft, helicopters, in addition to the amphibious departments of the Marina San Marco Brigade, the raiders and COMSUBIN divers. At sea, under the surface of the sea, in the air and on land, approximately 4.000 soldiers and more than 45 units between ships and submarines will be employed.

The Forces of the Naval Squad will exercise until 27 October, together with those of the Atlantic Alliance and some foreign navies, operating in the maritime spaces between the Adriatic, Ionian, Tyrrhenian and Strait of Sicily. A complex and articulated training context, also developed in the innovative and increasingly important dimensions of space and cyber-security.

The exercise, directed by the Command in Chief of the Naval Squad embarked on the Cavour aircraft carrier, will see the evolution of a realistic scenario designed in continuity with that of the previous edition. The forces in the field - under the guidance of the staff of the various Naval Divisions, the Marina San Marco Brigade and the Commands of the Navy's Specialist Components - will engage in high intensity combat activities, fight against conventional and asymmetrical threats, raids on coastal sites interest, maritime safety, control and reclamation of the seabed, prevention and contrast of illicit trafficking.

The training activities will be planned and conducted according to the consolidated procedures that the Navy applies to carry out its institutional tasks in the wider Mediterranean region, with particular attention to the protection of national interests, the surveillance of strategic areas, the maritime surveillance of sensitive objectives. and to safeguard the freedom of navigation on the high seas.

Also this edition of the Open Sea will see the integration of a Lagunari company of the Italian Army into the landing force made up of the fusiliers of the Marina San Marco Brigade and the participation of several aircraft of the Italian Air Force, including C27J for tactical transport and activities aviolancistica, CAEW G550, Eurofighter fighters and F35 aircraft in versions A and B. Just this last variant, the same one supplied to the Navy's air forces, will operate in close cooperation with other aircraft participating in the exercise with the aim of developing a national joint air projection, both from sea and from airports with short runways or with limited technical / operational support capacity.

In addition to representatives of the Center for International Studies, the Center for Geopolitics and Maritime Strategy (CESMAR) and the Corps of Voluntary Nurses of the Italian Red Cross, 50 students from 13 universities will participate in the exercise. The involvement in the exercise of university students, integrated according to the course of study in the staff embarked on the units of the Naval Squad, is fundamental in the broader framework of strengthening existing ties with universities. A strategic and innovative combination of operations and defense culture.

Defense: the second edition of the "open sea 2022" kicks off