Over 6000 industry enthusiasts participated in the event. The more than 6000 industry enthusiasts had the opportunity to ask questions to the personnel who operate these APRs, generating considerable interest especially among those who still do not know their operational use well.
More than 40 exhibitors participated in this first edition, including various companies as well as enterprises and consortia that have recently been established. The presence of scientific institutions is also important.
On display are more than 50 fixed-wing and rotary drones of all types and models, from a small quadcopter the size of a palm to the large Nimbus EOS Xi airship drone.
Brigadier General Stefano Vito Salamida, Head of the 4th Air Staff Department, together with Prof. Paolo Atzeni, Director of the “Roma Tre” Department of Engineering, and Dott. Luciano Castro, head of the event, inaugurated the session dedicated to workshops and conferences on various topics: from insurance policies and the safety of drone flights, to their use for security activities, in scientific research and in agriculture, to the operational activities carried out by the Air Force itself with a conference, held on Sunday 25 May, titled “
Flying with the Predator and the Strix-C – Operational experiences with the UAVs of the Air Force“. The Military Air Force Predator is now considered a fundamental and indispensable asset to support ground operations and increase the protection of forces deployed on the ground. Indeed, in Afghanistan the Italian ‘Predators’, which can fly continuously for approximately
20 hours, They have recently reached the milestone
13 thousand hours of flight (equivalent to approximately one and a half years of continuous flight) and are mainly employed to ensure, for extended periods of time and at considerable distances, even in contaminated or dangerous areas, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) activities.
Their capabilities and flexibility make them suitable for performing dual tasks (
Dual-use capability) in competition with the activities of other Ministries: the Predators were employed to contribute to national security during some “major events” such as the
Intergovernmental summit Russia–Italy (2007) and the
G8 of the Eagle (2009).
The Air Force, moreover, has also used these systems in
Libya, in the operation
Unified Protector (OUP), and still employs them successfully in support of NATO forces in
Kosovo as well as in the operation “
Mare Nostrum“.
Drawing on the experience gained in the field of strategic APRs, the Armed Forces have also acquired a tactical APR system for units engaged in the protection of deployed forces; for this reason they have acquired the Strix-C system. This Mini APR, weighing less than 20 kg, is suitable for reconnaissance and close surveillance of targets in the context of an advanced airborne detection system for detecting a threat.
Press Review
