During their flight, the two fighter jets exceeded the sound barrier, causing the typical “sonic boom” which was heard on the ground in some areas of Central-Northern Italy.

 In the early afternoon of today, two F-2000 Eurofighter jets from the 4th Wing of Grosseto, on air defence duty for NATO airspace, took off to intercept and identify a civilian aircraft, a Cessna 425 that had departed from Sarajevo and was heading for Basel, which had temporarily lost radio contact with air traffic control units during its flight, thus triggering the immediate take-off procedure – in technical jargon, “scramble”.

The two Italian Air Force fighter jets, under the guidance of the Air Defence controllers from the 11th DAMI Group of the Aerospace Operations Command in Poggio Renatico, took off rapidly to intercept the aircraft and ascertain that there were no ongoing emergencies or threats to airspace security. To ensure the fighters could reach the civilian aircraft as quickly as possible, the Combined Air Operation Centre (CAOC) in Torrejon authorised supersonic flight for the interceptor jets. They broke the sound barrier, causing the typical sonic boom that was heard on the ground in some areas of central northern Italy. Before visual identification by the two fighter jets, the Cessna re-established contact with Slovenian air traffic control authorities, bringing the emergency to an end and then continuing as planned.

The Air Force continuously ensures the surveillance of national airspace. The Air Defence system against military threats, from peacetime onwards, is under NATO control, which, through the Combined Air Operation Centre (CAOC) in Torrejon (Spain), carries out surveillance of the airspace south of the Alps, from the Canary Islands to Turkey and from the Azores to Romania.

The service is guaranteed – for the surveillance, identification, and control aspects – by the 11th Integrated Missile Air Defence Group (DAMI) of Poggio Renatico (Fe) and the 22nd Radar Group of Licola (Na), while airborne intervention is provided by the 4th Wing of Grosseto, the 36th Wing of Gioia del Colle, the 37th Wing of Trapani Birgi, and the 51st Wing of Istrana, as well as the 32nd Wing of Amendola with F-35 aircraft from the 6th and 32nd Wings.

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