Admiral Cavo Dragone, Commander of the COI, took part in Joint Stars 2018, the most important joint exercise of the year. Since his arrival at the Decimomannu military airport on 15 May, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, Commander of the Joint Force Command of the Defence Staff (COI), visited the facilities hosting the exercise's Directorate, where the conduct, command and control of Joint Stars 2018 are ensured.
On the morning of Wednesday, 16 May, the COI Commander took part in a flight mission aboard a T346 aircraft from the 61st Wing, which was deployed to the Decimomannu military airport for Vega 2018, an aerial training activity forming part of the broader Joint Stars 2018 joint forces exercise. In particular, the flight mission was part of a specific training scenario which saw four Eurofighter jets and one CAEW (Conformal Airborne Early Warning) aircraft operating as “blue forces”, pitted against two T346s and two F35s in an air defence mission that was electronically jammed by a NATO DA20.
At the end of the flight mission, Squadron Admiral Cavo Dragone transferred, via a Navy NH90 helicopter, aboard the San Marco ship, where he was briefed on the activities carried out by the Navy in synergy with the other Armed Forces as part of the JS18 exercise. In this regard, the effective national capability for projecting the Army from the sea in combination with the Navy was tested.
Having returned to Decimomannu airport, the COMCOI visited the IT-DARS (Italian Deployable Air control centre, Recognised air picture production centre and Sensor fusion post), a deployable command and control capability of the Air Force, represented by the Mobile Command and Control Unit, a true excellence of the Defence.
Unlike previous editions, this year's exercise presents a more challenging scenario for the Commands and units in training, with simulated interventions in an environment characterised by cyber, chemical, biological, and radiological (CBRN) threats. Furthermore, the capabilities of Italian military units assigned to the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), the Atlantic Alliance's rapid response force and the true “tip of the spear” of NATO's international crisis response structure, will also be tested.
In summary, “Joint Stars” is the opportunity to achieve synergies and economies through the joint training of the Italian Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as to share resources and maximise interoperability within the Defence sector, refining intervention capabilities with an increasingly pronounced joint force approach.
