With a solemn flag-raising in the military airport of Keflavik in Iceland, the NATO operation of Interim Air Policing named officially began Northern Ligtning.
For the first time, a fifth-generation fighter will be deployed on an Air Policing mission, giving Italy the privilege of being the first Alliance country to use the aircraft in a NATO operation F-35.
In fact, there will be six F-35 fighters, coming from Amendola's 32 ° Stormo, which will have the task of preserving the integrity of the airspace of the NATO, strengthening the surveillance activity of the skies of Iceland which does not possess the capacity and facilities for the air defense self.
The assets of theair Force therefore they will ensure the surveillance of Icelandic airspace for about three weeks, in the meantime conducting joint training activities with the staff of the Icelandic Coast Guard.
The Air Force Task Force (TFA) 32nd Wing, set up at the Keflavik Air Base (ISL) will report directly to the Interforce Joint Operational Command (COI) and will be constituted not only by the Lightning Task Group, but also by technical and logistic personnel and by a team of Air Defense Controllers of the Air Operations Command of Poggio Renatico. These, in coordination with the Icelandic Coast Guard, will ensure the proper functions of air defense, from surveillance and identification to the control of interceptors in the Area of Responsibility (AOR - Area of Responsibility) as well as connections with the CAOC (Combined Air Operation Center) of Udem.
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To guarantee the necessary security framework, a team will also be employed, consisting of personnel from the 16 Stormo "Air Fuciliers" of the Air Force of Martina Franca (TA), which will be assisted by "Force Protection" personnel of the 32 ° Stormo.
Important the contribution provided by other departments of the Armed Force that guaranteed the TFA's redeployment. The 46 ^ Air Brigade of Pisa and the 14 ° Stormo of Pratica di Mare, thanks to the use of the C-130J and KC 767 carriers, carried out the transport of personnel and material, also guaranteeing refueling in flight to the F-35 aircraft and the 41 ° Stormo of Sigonella that with the P-72 patrol car has carried out the important task of oceanic SAR (Search And Rescue) ensuring the foreseen safety frame in the crossing towards Iceland.
As in any redeployment, the personnel of the departments employed by the 3 Division of Logistics Command, intervened by preparing the necessary equipment to cover and organize the large and fundamental sector of telecommunications and flight assistance.
The Italian Air Force participates continuously in Interim Air Policing in Albania since 2009, in Slovenia since 2004, in Montenegro since 2018, while it has already been involved in Iceland four times since 2013.
THEAir Policing (AP) is a capacity NATO has endowed since the mid-fifties and consists of the integration into a single air defense and missile defense system of the NATO of the respective and similar national systems made available by the member countries. The activity of Air Policing is conducted since the time of peace and consists in the continuous surveillance and identification of all the violations of the integrity of the NATO airspace to which it is faced by taking the appropriate actions useful to counter them, such as the rapid take-off of interceptor fighter aircraft, the so-called Scramble.
The AP is carried out within the area of responsibility of the Allied Command Operation of NATO (Allied Command Operation - ACO) stationed at Brussels and is coordinated by the Allied Air Command Headquarters of Ramstein (GER).