Tradition, continuity and innovation for the Static Exhibition on the technological evolution of the Air Defence sector
On the morning of Wednesday 31 May, within the historic walls of the Triangular Room of the Aragonese Castle of Otranto, the static exhibition entitled was inaugurated “The technological evolution of Air Defence”.
The event, which is part of the initiatives organised for the celebrations of the Centenary of the Italian Air Force, was organised by 136th Remote Radar Squadron of Otranto, from Air Force Detachment and from the’Air Force Association, Section of Otranto with legal aid provided by the Municipality of Otranto.
At the opening, the Lt. Col. Bruno Centonze, Commander of the Otranto Air Force Detachment and the Captain Omar Napoli, Commander of the 136th Remote Radar Squadron of Otranto, briefly illustrated to the civil and military authorities gathered at the event, including the Mayor of the City of Otranto, Senator Francesco Bruni, the history that has united the two units since 1954, the founding year of the 32nd Radar Group of the Italian Air Force, until 2012, the year the latter was reorganised into what are now the two commands present in the Otranto area.
The opening highlighted the technological evolution that has strongly affected the sector of Air Defence in these first 70 years of activity, underlining how we have moved from radar data presentation systems on consoles with valve components to systems implementing integrated component circuitry. It was emphasised how, in these first 70 years of activity, the synergy between the Italian Air Force and the people of Otranto has increasingly cemented itself in collaboration and feelings of mutual cordiality.
The Mayor of the City of Otranto himself, Senator Francesco Bruni, in a passage of his opening speech emphasised how this relationship of brotherhood and cordiality ever since the founding of the 32nd Radar Squadron has been a driving force for the City of Otranto that has made the city grow from various points of view.
As in other similar occasions that took place within the initiatives organised locally for the celebrations of the Centenary of the Italian Air Force, there was no lack—nor could there have been—of the reference made by Major General Paolo Citta of the Otranto Branch of the Italian Air Force Association, who recalled how in the year of the celebration of the Centenary of the Italian Air Force, the Armed Forces Azzurra stands alongside, marries and supports the project named “A gift from heaven for AIRC” (Italian Association for Cancer Research) the proceeds of which will go towards funding the provision of sophisticated technological equipment required for cancer treatment research in favour of IFOM – FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology.
Gen. Paolo Citta also strongly emphasised how it is everyone's duty to give a chance of hope to all those, and their respective families, to be able to recover from this terrible illness.
The event is among the special initiatives promoted by the Air Force Detachment, the 136th Remote Radar Squadron and the Otranto Section of the Air Force Association in the sense of Tradition And of the continuity and, at the same time, of the’innovation, to remember the glorious past while looking to the future and to reinforce those values and principles that have accompanied the Italian Air Force since its establishment.
The exhibition, the title of which primarily refers to the institutional role of the Italian Air Force, could not ignore the presence of elements pertaining to military flight, of which the nearby 61st Wing currently represents an absolute international excellence in the field of flight training. Therefore, thanks to the support of personnel and equipment provided by the Commander of the 61st Wing Group Captain Vito Conserva, it was possible to set up two spots featuring a weather station and a replica of the trainer aircraft cockpit MB 339A whose functions were illustrated to the visitors by the Weather Officer and the Student Pilot.
