Welcomed in Decimomannu by the Commander of the COVI, the Undersecretaries of State for Defense Rauti and Perego di Cremnago, the Chief of Defense Staff Admiral Cavo Dragone and the highest military leaders.
“Joint Stars is the most important Defense exercise and has seen not only inter-force integration but also multi-domain and interagency. We have put in place a federated mission network that has allowed Command and Control, integrating all the operational components of the Armed Forces - land, naval and air - with cyber and space activities into a single reality (Joint operational picture). and the use of personnel and complex platforms of various types. Great attention on our part also to environmental issues: the application of the regulations presented in the Joint Joint Committee has allowed us to preserve the beauty of the places in which we train".
With these words, the Operational Commander of the Joint Forces Summit, General of the Army Corps Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, kicked off, at the Decimomannu air base, al Visit to Training Day (VTT Day), during which the Undersecretaries of State for Defence Isabella Rauti e Matteo Perego of Cremnago, accompanied by the Chief of Defense Staff, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, visited the personnel who have been employed in various locations in southern Sardinia for the exercise since 8 May Joint Stars 2023 (JOST23), the most important training event of the Defense, planned and directed by the Operational Command of Vertice Interforze (COVI).
Among the Authorities, the Chiefs of Staff of the General Army of the Army Corps Peter Serino, Navy Fleet Admiral Enrico Credendino, the General Commander of the Carabinieri Army Corps General Teo Luzi and the new Commander General of the Guardia di Finanza, Army Corps General Andrew DeGennaro, whose appointment was formalized by the Council of Ministers just yesterday, during the visit. Also present was the Commander of the SA General Air Force Alberto Biavati, the President of Confindustria Carlo Bonomi and the Professor Gianni Riotta, member of the Committee for the development and enhancement of defense culture.
The COVI Commander, Army Corps General Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, welcomed the Authorities, who addressed those present with a greeting, before giving the floor to the Director of the exercise, Admiral of Division Fabio agostini and to the Deputy Commander of COVI, General SA Nicholas Lanza de Cristoforis, commander of the Joint Task Force of exercise, which with a multimedia representation illustrated the exercise scenario, the action plan and the land, naval, air, cybernetic and space devices involved in what is to all intents and purposes the most impressive and complex exercise of the Italian Defense.
During the day, the Authorities and guests reached the amphibious ship San Giusto, sailing off the coast of Cagliari and inserted in a naval device that also saw the presence of Garibaldi shipand Alpine frigate, the St. George, the Gazzana submarine, of patrol boats of the Guardia di Finanza for a total of about 1200 men and women. To do the honors, the Rear Admiral Stephen Constantine, Commander of the Third Naval Division. On board the naval unit, infantrymen of the Marine Brigade "San Marco" e Lagunari of the "Serenissima" Regiment of the Italian Army, demonstrating the full interoperability and integration between amphibious departments of the two Armed Forces, within the National Projection Capacity from the sea.
The guests were then escorted to the Capo Teulada shooting range, where the Garibaldi Bersaglieri Brigade, led by the Brigadier General Mario Ciorra, conducted fire exercises that saw around 750 soldiers and numerous land component weapon systems on the field, such as VCC80 DART, Aries tanks, VTMM “BEAR", heavy mortars 120 mm thomson and missiles against SPIKE chariot, to which were added helicopters of theArmy aviation (NH90, A-129 and CH-47), of the Marina Militare (EH-101 and MH-90) and ofair Force (F-35, MQ9 reaper and HH-101) to support maneuvering with close air support, amphibious force insertion, aircraft and aero-mechanized operations.
The day ended in Decimomannu with the demonstration of an interagency activity that he saw in action Armed bodies and not of the State, together with sanitary units of the Military Corps of the Red Cross and teams of Fire fighters and Civil protection.
"Today I had the opportunity to personally verify the effectiveness of the national military instrument”, declared the Honorable Undersecretary Perego of Cremnago at the end of the visit, adding that "exercises such as Joint Stars are necessary to ensure constant operational readiness in today's multi-domain scenarios”.
The Undersecretary Senator Roar has, for its part, highlighted the international, multi-domain, joint and inter-agency character of Joint Stars 23, which involves the most valuable assets of the Italian Armed Forces, engaged in joint training with other armed and non-armed bodies of the State, with the civil protection and with other countries of the Atlantic Alliance. He added that: "union means strengthening interoperability and creating a system, also to deal with emergencies". She also said she was proud to see Defense men and women engaged on the ground in all domains.
Di integration and multidomain the Admiral also spoke Cable Dragon, Chief of Defense Staff: "The Joint Stars is an activity of strong integration between all the components of the Defense, which also involved the other ministries and elements of the State that can contribute to the defense and security of the country". He then added: “As recent history has taught us, it is essential that everyone practice not only in the traditional domains, land, sea and sky, but also in cyber activities and space management ".
Joint Stars 2023 is a complex multi-domain exercise that sees the Italian Armed Forces train in the defense of air, land and sea spaces, in cyber and space security, in the defense against chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear contamination and in the fight against emerging threats, including underwater or aerial drones. The exercise will end on May 26th.
COVI has received from the Chief of the Defense Staff the task of planning and directing the training activities which have seen over 5.300 men and women and 900 platforms operating in Sardinia from the Armed Forces, including the Coast Guard, and from the Armed and non-Armed Corps of the State, such as the Guardia di Finanza, Civil Protection, the Military Corps of the Italian Red Cross, the Fire Brigade. Foreign assets are also involved - among them a Norwegian mechanized battalion, NATO assets Standing Naval Forces and Slovenian staff officers. University students from important national universities (LUISS “Guido Carli”, LUMSA, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa and the University of Genoa) took part in the activities for the first time in a joint exercise.
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