Editorial
One of our Navy destroyers, the Caio Duilio, had its baptism of fire in the Red Sea yesterday. You foiled an attack by the Yemeni Houthi rebel group by shooting down a drone that was flying menacingly. Once it entered the radar of the Italian ship following a series of technical calculations, carried out by the on-board IT devices, the decision to hit the flying object whose direction had now been inexorably identified. The Caio Duilio is equipped to engage missiles, torpedoes and drones thanks to its 5 cannons and 45 missiles. The drone was shot down approximately six thousand meters away, in an area considered safe for the safety of the ship and its staff which has a crew of approximately 200 sailors.
The destroyer Duilio took turns at the end of December the Federico Martinengo missile frigate to continue ensuring freedom of navigation and the security of trade routes targeted by Yemeni rebels. He will most likely take tactical command of the European mission Aspides after Parliament gives the green light to Italian participation in the mission.
Nave Duilio currently operates in the Bab-el Mandeb Strait, where the Houthis attack cargoes linked to Israel, as part of an international defense system in which several countries participate to guarantee the protection of international law and safeguard national interests.
The reaction of the Foreign Minister was immediate, Tajani who expressed his gratitude to the Minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto, to the Chief of Defense Staff, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone and to the Chief of the Navy, Admiral Enrico Credendino. “The Navy protects the right to free navigation in the Red Sea from Houthi attacks” Tajani emphasized.
The United States, Great Britain and a few other countries are part of the mission Prosperity Guardian conducting bombing missions against Houthi-controlled positions in Yemen. Italy, however, has decided to participate only in missions whose focus focuses on the defense of commercial shipping, without attacking land targets.
The Houthis, a Shiite militia involved in Yemen's civil war for more than a decade, are funded and partially trained by Iran, and are considered part of Tehran's proxy militias. After capturing the capital Sanaa in 2017, ousting former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Houthis have resisted bombing by a Saudi-led coalition and continued to extend their control over the country. The war has caused years of famine in Yemen and devastated the country's already limited resources. Before the Israeli invasion of Gaza, the Houthis seemed close to a possible peace agreement with Riyadh. The Shiite militant group justifies its actions in the Red Sea by referring to Israel's massacres of Palestinian civilians, declaring that they will only stop when the firing in Gaza stops.
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