During the holidays, the work of the Armed Forces both at home and abroad continued with over 12.000 military engaged in the various operational scenarios, to protect national interests, international security and the main metropolitan areas of the country.
On the national territory, as part of the operation "Safe Roads”, about 5.000 soldiers guard the streets and squares ensuring security in Italian urban areas that are particularly crowded at this time of year. The personnel of the Armed Forces is placed at the disposal of the Prefects, employed by them for surveillance services at sensitive sites and objectives, as well as on patrol and patrol jointly with the personnel of the Carabinieri and other Police Forces.
All 'abroad the Armed Forces, with over 7.000 military, are present in 35 international missions within the framework of multinational coalitions, under the auspices of UN, NATO e XNUMX-XNUMX business days o bilateral agreements.
I Italian military are deployed in 24 nations ranging from the region Arctic and the Baltic south through the Eastern Flank of the Alliance, from the Persian Gulf west through the Horn of Africa and the Middle East, the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Sahel to the Gulf of Guinea and Antarctica.
On the East Flank over 1.250 Italian soldiers are in Latvia, Hungary and Bulgaria, in the latter Italy has the lead, with departments ofArmy under the measures of enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) and of enhanced Vigilance Activity (eVA) of NATO. In Romania a Task Force of theaeronautics is busy with aircraft EF-2000 “Typhoon” within the framework of NATO enhanced Air Policing for surveillance of Allied airspace.
In Iraq and Kuwait, the armed forces are present in the "Prima Parthica/INHERENT RESOLVE" operation, which currently employs 650 soldiers, 97 land vehicles and 11 air vehicles. Among the tasks of the contingent are the contribution to the coalition staff, the training of the Kurdish and Iraqi security forces, the activity Air-to-air refueling in favor of the Coalition's air assets and reconnaissance and surveillance with remotely piloted aircraft and aircraft, the latter ensured by the men and means of the Air Task Force based in Kuwait.
As regards the Mediterranean, Marina Militare operates within the Permanent Groups of NATO, the NATOs Standing Naval Forces.
During the recent soccer world championships, the Defense has contributed to security with the joint operation "Any”, which involved 560 soldiers, 46 land vehicles, 1 ship, 2 aircraft. It was a bilateral mission divided into two different Task Forces: one with a strong terrestrial connotation, based on the Army's "Sassari" Brigade, which employed personnel from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Carabinieri, and the another for operations at sea, with the Navy's "Thaon di Revel" patrol vessel.
Italy is currently in command of missions in Iraq (NMI), Kosovo (KFOR) where, among others, the Arma dei Carabinieri is present with the Multinational Specialized Unit (MSU), of the EU Mission in Somalia (EUTM), of EUNAVFORMED Irini in the Mediterranean and of "EMASoH", a mission operating in the Strait of Hormuz.
The strong commitment of the Italian Defense continues under the command of the Western Sector of UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) in Lebanon, with 1169 military personnel, 368 land vehicles and 7 air vehicles.
We know in detail the commitment of our Armed Forces
ARMY
Throughout 2022, the Army continued to employ its soldiers on the national territory in favor of citizens and local institutions. In 46 provinces, in fact, the activities of assisting the forces of order continue, from the fight against criminal activities to the prevention of possible terrorist attacks.
Other soldiers of the Armed Forces are deployed in numerous missions operating in the most critical areas of the world (such as Somalia, Niger, Mali, Libya, Latvia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Lebanon, Kosovo and Iraq), Joint-Combined missions conducted by the Defense General Staff (SMD) through the Operational Command of the Joint Forces Summit (COVI).
To these commitments is added the deployment of specialized personnel for further needs in the international arena and the maintenance of operational readiness for the departments that are part of the NATO Rapid Reaction Forces.
Among the other activities carried out on the national territory, during 2022 the Engineering departments carried out more than 2.000 remediation operations for the defusing and blasting of approximately 31.000 explosive devices and war remnants (most of which dating back to the Second World War worldwide), some weighing hundreds of pounds, often in conditions of considerable complexity.
These commitments are even more relevant when one considers that for every active soldier, another is preparing to replace him and a third has just been replaced.
A 360-degree commitment made by the Army, characterized by dynamism and marked professional versatility, which allows the land component of the Armed Forces to be responsive to the needs of the country in all circumstances. In fact, even in emergencies, Italian soldiers have demonstrated their high level of preparation and professionalism thanks to continuous training and the development of new technologies that project the centuries-old history of the Army into the future cybernetic scenario, once again in the leading role.
MARINA MILITARE
In 2022, the Navy ensured a constant activity of presence and surveillance of communication lines by sea, deterrence and contrast to illegal activities, in the knowledge of the centrality of the maritime dimension for the security and defense of national interests.
The national operation "Mediterraneo Sicuro" involved up to 6 units between ships and submarines every day, with the support of units of the San Marco Marina Brigade, raiders and divers, Naval Aviation helicopters and Air Force maritime patrol aircraft that embark mixed Navy and Air Force crews.
The Navy has been continuously engaged in ensuring its duties of "Maritime Vigilance" and "Fishing Vigilance", to protect national interests and to patrol and monitor the national exclusive economic zone being established, and the clearance of explosive devices at sea along the over 8.000 km of coastline.
Added to this is the need to protect strategic national infrastructures, which required the launch of the "Safe Funds" operation, aimed at the protection of gas pipelines and cable pipelines of vital importance for our country - such as the "Transmed" which conveys to Mazara del Vallo the Algerian gas, the Libyan "Greenstream" and the "TAP" which brings Azeri gas to Puglia - without forgetting the internet cables that cross the Mediterranean. Precisely because of the importance of the submarine dimension, the Navy was entrusted with the task of guiding the constituting national diving hub.
In the wake of the cooperation started between the allied Navies capable of generating "aircraft carrier" groups (Italy, France, the United Kingdom and the USA), joint exercises were carried out with the aircraft carrier groups of the USA (Truman, Bush) and France (Charles de Gaulle ) in transit in the Mediterranean; in this sense, the roadmap for the Initial Operational Capability (IOC) of the Cavour aircraft carrier is increasingly moving: there are now 3 F35-Bs on board.
The commitment in the national and international Joint and Joint – Combined missions carried out by the Defense Staff (SMD) through the Joint Operational Summit Command (COVI) is noteworthy, among these the "EMASoH" mission in the Persian Gulf, the operation "Atalanta" to combat piracy in the Indian Ocean, the European operation "Irini" in the Mediterranean and the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in the Red Sea. In addition, the Navy operated in the Gulf of Guinea with the "Gabinia" operation, aimed at guaranteeing the supervision and protection of national interests, as well as developing cooperation activities with partner and allied Navies present in the region.
The constant dialogue with foreign Navies this year had its peak in the Venice Symposium, now in its 13th edition, which has taken on a trans-regional character including the entire international maritime cluster.
Significant in the field of scientific research is the commitment of the ship Alliance which has twice reached the ice limit in the Arctic.
AIR FORCE
A very intense year has come to an end, "flying towards the future" as the motto of the Centenary of the Air Force states, which will occur on March 28th. Throughout 2023, events and initiatives are planned throughout the country designed to make the history, traditions, activities carried out and skills developed in these first hundred years of life better known.
The Armed Forces supported the most important Joint-Combined international military missions, conducted by the Defense General Staff (SMD) through the Joint Forces Operational Command (COVI), including the Balkans, Lebanon, the Horn of Africa, Niger, Iceland, Antarctica, Kuwait, Qatar, Eastern Europe and Iraq.
As part of the Air Policing operations in Poland and Romania, Italian Eurofighter fighters took to the air 50 times to ensure the defense of NATO's eastern flank airspace.
From May to early July, a task force of Italian F-35s ensured the surveillance and defense of the skies over Iceland.
A late 2022 characterized by important operational events such as the first landing of an Air Force C-130J on the semi-prepared runway built by the Armed Forces and ENEA on the Antarctic moraine.
This year also saw the long-awaited return of performances in front of the public by the National Acrobatic Patrol, after two years conditioned by the pandemic.
There were 98 emergency medical and humanitarian transport missions, life-saving flights for the transport of organs, medical teams or in favor of citizens in immediate need of treatment in specialized hospital facilities.
79 search and rescue interventions for people seriously injured, missing or in danger of life in inaccessible mountain areas or at sea and 27 interventions in favor of the Forest Fire Fighting Campaign, which saw CSAR Centers (Combat Search and Rescue) of the Aeronautics contribute to extinguishing the fires, to protect the population and the environment, in synergy with the agencies and bodies of the state. 25 immediate take-offs - in scramble jargon - by the interceptor fighters who took off to check and identify aircraft without authorizations to fly over Italian airspace or which had lost radio contact with the national air traffic control bodies air traffic.
CARABINIERS
During 2022, the Arma dei Carabinieri was engaged in Operations abroad conducted independently and in Joint Combined missions conducted by the Defense Staff (SMD) through the Operational Command of the Joint Forces Summit (COVI), alongside of contingents of the other Armed Forces, in Kosovo, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Cyprus, Somalia, Iraq, Mali, Kuwait, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Djibouti, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Niger, Mauritania, Qatar.
Within NATO, the Arma contributes with the Multinational Specialized Units (MSU), a Stability Policing structure which, from a tactical point of view, represents an international reference model, consolidating a "Carabinieri model" for managing the delicate post-conflict stabilization phase of crisis areas.
The mission abroad with the highest number of Carabinieri employed continues to be KFOR NATO Kosovo Force. Also in Kosovo, the Arma participates in the EULEX mission, under the aegis of Eurogendfor, with tasks of maintaining public order and security.
The Carabinieri are also present in Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq, where – as part of the Inherent Resolve, Prima Parthica mission – they provide assistance, consultancy and training for the development of the Iraqi police force.
The training of the police forces remains one of the main objectives of the Arma's commitment abroad. In 2022, this training activity, as well as in Iraq, was carried out in favor of Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Somalia, Mali, Djibouti and Niger, training a total of about 3000 members of the police forces of the various foreign states.
In the context of international cooperation with other military police forces, the Arma was the protagonist of two important events:
– in September in Vicenza, at the Center of Excellence for the Stability Police Units (CoESPU), a quadripartite summit conference (G4) was held between the gendarmerie and police forces with military status from France, Italy, Spain and Portugal;
– the meeting of the High Level Interministerial Committee (Comité InterMInistériel de haut Niveau – CIMIN) was held in Bucharest in December.
On this occasion, the handover was carried out between the outgoing Romanian Presidency and Italy, which will take over for 2023.