During an important scientific conference, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General of the Air Force Aurelio Colagrande, spoke, illustrating the Armed Forces’ constant commitment in the space sector and in the use of drones to address the new challenges related to national security.
“Drones and Space: at the limits of the law of navigation and transport” It is the title of the conference held on the 22nd and 23rd of March, in the Aula Magna of the’University of Sassari, concerning the topics of technological development in the Air and Space Domains.
Promoters of this ambitious research project, as well as members of the Scientific Committee, were Professor Michele Maria Comenale Pinto, Ordinary of Navigation Law at the University of Sassari, Professor Umberto La Torre, Ordinary of Navigation Law at the University of Catanzaro, Professor Elisabetta Rosafio, Ordinary of Navigation Law and Transport at the University of Teramo, Professor Giovanni Pruneddu, Associate of Navigation Law at the University of Sassari. Among the main organizational representatives of the event were Dr. Marcella Lamon, Research Assistant in Navigation Law at the University of Sassari together with the research doctoral students of the Department of Navigation Law at the University of Sassari.
The work began with the greetings of Prof. Nanni Campus, Mayor of the City of Sassari and Prof. Gavino Mariotti, Rector of the University of Sassari, as well as of numerous political authorities, including Mr. Salvatore Deidda, Chairman of the Transport Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, Senator Ettore Licheri of the Defense Committee of the Senate, Ms. Barbara Polo of the Defense Committee of the Chamber of Deputies. Also present were Mr. Gianluca Lo Bianco, Director of Coordination of Presidency and Planning at ENAC, Prof. Elda Turco Bulgherini, Vice President of the Italian Space Association, Dr. Ing. Paolo Solferino, Senior Vice President of Leonardo, Prof. Giacomo Cao, President of the Aerospace District of Sardinia, and Prof. Alfredo Antonini, President of the Italian Association of Teachers of Navigation Law.
Among the Military Authorities of the Armed Forces and Armed Corps of the State, General Chief Inspector Giuseppe Lupoli, Director of the Directorate of Aeronautical Armaments and Aeronavigability (ARMAEREO), Chief Inspector Pietro Covino, Chief of the Marine Commissariat Corps, General Chief Inspector Pietro Perelli, Chief of the Air Medical Corps, General C.A. Ignazio Gibilaro, Interregional Commander of Central Italy of the Guardia di Finanza, Colonel Alessio Gronchi, Director of the Counter Mini/Mini APR Excellence Center, Colonel Fabrizio Beccarisi of ARMAEREO and Colonel Gianni Serra, Commander of the Municipal Police of Sassari.
Among the other speakers were Prof. Francesco Morandi, Ordinary of Transport and Tourism Law at the University of Sassari, Prof. Marina D’Orsogna, Ordinary of Administrative Law at the University of Teramo, Prof. Francesca Pellegrino, Ordinary of Navigation Law at the University of Messina, Prof. Filippo Gambella, Associate of Agricultural Mechanization at the University of Sassari, Prof. Filippo Ruschi, Associate of Philosophy of Law at the University of Florence, Gen. S.A. (r) Stefano Vito Salamida, C.F. Vincenzo Attolino of the Maritime Commissariat Corps and Dr. Giovanni Saba of Karel Tecnologie Srl.
It Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Air Force Corps General Aurelio Colagrande, Together with a group of Air Force Officers experienced in military drones and aerospace medicine, he highlighted the role of the Armed Forces in these unique sectors, which have now become of absolute strategic importance for the Nation. In this regard, Major Stefano Esposito and Captain Domenico Caputo, Officers of the Air Corps Command and research doctoral students in the field, intervened. Space Law at the University of Sassari, which analyzed the legal implications arising from space activities, delving into the concepts of Space Safety e Space Security.
General Colagrande emphasized the responsibility of the Air Force, as a component of the Defense equipped with the technological and scientific skills necessary to operate in the aerospace environment, to ensure the protection of airspace from all types of threats, including those coming from the extra-atmospheric space.
The conference therefore highlighted important technical and scientific results achieved through the synergistic joint action of the State institutions, the world of university research and industry, but above all the need to define new development lines to address the emerging challenges related to national security and resilience, and aerospace technologies, in order to promote the realization of the National System.
