Flight Test Centre and Polytechnic of Bari share the goal of creating expertise and excellence in the aerospace sector. Following the initial welcome, the delegation watched a film about the origins of the Centre and the institutional activities that the CSV conducts through its four departments. The film served as the starting point for a subsequent in-depth look at the capabilities of the subordinate Flight Test Department (RSV).
In particular, the CSV, as part of its responsibilities and interests in the aerospace sector, sees cooperation with the university world as an opportunity for mutual growth through the sharing of experiences and the launch of joint initiatives for the study, development and testing of innovative technologies.
Over the years, the CSV has developed increasingly sophisticated expertise in the aeronautical, aerospace, and astronautical sectors, both through the training and qualification of Armed Forces personnel (pilots, engineers, doctors, chemists), and through direct involvement in certain space missions with its own personnel, who later became astronauts, and in support of microgravity experiments for the International Space Station.
Furthermore, the Department is establishing an Aerospace Engineering Group, with the dual purpose of exploring and evaluating the capabilities offered by the Defence space segment to support the indispensable operational capabilities of the Italian Air Force and expanding expertise from the traditional aeronautical domain to the aerospace one (which extends from 60 kft to 100 km). For its part, the Polytechnic University of Bari promotes, carries out and coordinates research activities aimed at the development and dissemination of scientific and technological research applied also to the space and aerospace fields.
The meeting laid the foundations for a series of potential collaborative initiatives that could soon materialise in a memorandum of understanding for the exchange of expertise and the mutual enhancement of knowledge as a country system.
The CSV brings together under a single command all the study and experimentation bodies of the Italian Air Force. The body is structured into four departments: Flight Test Department, Chemical Department, Armament Department, and Aerospace Medicine Department. It is the sole Armed Forces body authorised to carry out ground and flight testing activities, providing the technical evidence necessary for the operational certification of onboard systems and weaponry. The CSV has obtained the renewal of its ISO 9001 quality certification.
