The immediate take-off of two fighter jets from the 4th Wing was ordered to intercept a civilian aircraft that had lost communication. On Sunday, 6 September, at around 13:00, two F-2000 Eurofighter fighter jets of the Italian Air Force, on air defence duty to protect national airspace, carried out an immediate take-off order (known in military jargon as a “scramble”) to intercept and verify a civilian aircraft that had lost radio contact with air traffic control. The aircraft, belonging to a civilian company of Austrian nationality, was crossing Italian airspace along the Moscow-Olbia route when it lost communication, thus triggering the alert and interception procedure. The two interceptor fighter jets of the
4th Wing in Grosseto, under the guidance of the Air Defence controllers of the’
11° GrDAMI In Poggio Renatico, after it was ascertained within a few minutes that radio communications had been restored and that there was no dangerous or emergency situation, they resumed their role of surveillance of national airspace. The operational mission was activated following the “scramble” order received from the Torrejon CAOC (Combined Air Operation Centre), the NATO entity responsible for airspace surveillance in that area, and was carried out under the control of the Italian Air Force's aerospace surveillance and defence operations centres. The Italian Air Force ensures continuous surveillance of national airspace. The Air Defence system against military threats, even in peacetime, is under NATO control, which, through the Combined Air Operation Centre (CAOC) in Torrejon (Spain), carries out airspace surveillance south of the Alps, from the Canary Islands to Turkey and from the Azores to Romania. The service is guaranteed – for surveillance, identification, and control – by the 11th Integrated Missile Air Defence Group (DAMI) in Poggio Renatico (Ferrara) and the 22nd Radar Group in Licola (Naples), while in-flight interception is provided by four bases: the 4th Wing in Grosseto, the 36th Wing in Gioia del Colle, the 37th Wing in Trapani Birgi, and the 51st Wing in Istrana, the latter on a permanent basis since April 2020. All the aforementioned wings are equipped with fourth-generation Eurofighter combat aircraft. The Italian Air Force, along with the air forces of other allied countries, also contributes to providing airspace surveillance for NATO member nations lacking an adequate Air Defence system, such as in the case of Iceland, where Italy has conducted several operations.
Air policing (air patrolling) since 2013. In the last two rounds of
Air policing (financial years 2019 and 2020) the patrol and surveillance service was carried out with the new, highly advanced fifth-generation F-35 aircraft of the
32nd Wing at Amendola. The national Air Operation Centre carries out fundamental tasks in the organisation of air defence services and conducts constant supervision of the entire system. In the event of a non-military threat to Italian airspace, the IT-AOC reclaims command of interceptor aircraft assigned to NATO, for subsequent counter-action. This happens when a civilian aircraft transiting Italian airspace exhibits anomalous and therefore potentially dangerous behaviour, or if it requires air support due to technical problems compromising flight safety, as in today's case, caused by loss of radio communications.
