Mare Nostrum: the 41st Wing at Sigonella continues its commitment in the operation. After taking off from the military airport of Sigonella and reaching the operational area in the Strait of Sicily, during the surface patrol it located the boats that were proceeding in sequence.
The Commander and the crew reported the position to the operational room of the Command in Chief of the Naval Unit, to ensure the indispensable intervention and coordination of all the assets employed in the operation, continuing to fly over the area for a few hours in order to avert and report any dangerous situations.
The BR1150 Atlantic aircraft of the 41st Stormtrooper Squadron operates with mixed crews from the Air Force and the Navy and was specifically designed to operate in a maritime environment in order to patrol – flying at low altitude – large areas thanks to its high autonomy and range. The search activities are carried out using the onboard radar optimized for searching for targets on the surface of the sea and with the assistance of three on-board operators, such as spotters, equipped with day and night binoculars. In the event of an sighting, the Atlantic can signal the position of the shipwreck with lighting devices for night use or smoke signals for day use and launch a self-inflating pneumatic boat, waiting for the arrival of surface rescue vehicles.
The mission of the 41st Air Wing consists of countering the underwater and naval threat and providing long-range search and rescue service in the sea to protect the main maritime routes in order to keep potentially hostile underwater and surface naval units under control. These activities are complemented by the control of commercial traffic in the Mediterranean, as part of the “post-September 11” operations against international terrorism, and support for activities aimed at controlling migratory flows from the southern quadrants of the Mediterranean, guaranteeing daily coverage of the large areas of interest and allowing the timely location of refugees at sea, alerting the relevant authorities and ensuring a constant and ready response by S.A.R., in the event of a maritime accident or shipwreck.
