NATO MILITARY TRAINING: SWIFT RESPONSE 19 HAS BEEN FINISHED

The Army and Air Force are engaged in Swift Response 2019, a major NATO exercise aimed at strengthening and integrating the interoperability of the ready-for-use units. From June 11 to 24, the Folgore Paratrooper Brigade and a C130J of the Air Force, belonging to the 46th Air Brigade of Pisa, participated in the International Exercise Swift Response 2019 (SR19). Swift Response took place in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania with the dual purpose of implementing the effectiveness and reliability of the U.S. European Command, and testing the operational capabilities of the airborne units within the airborne community. The exercise was led by the U.S. Global Response Force. In this context, the Armed Forces of 7 NATO member countries participated: Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Operating within the framework of a JFEO – Joint Forcible Entry Operation – and targeted activities to develop the projection capability from the air following infiltration through airlifting, developed in concert with the 46th Air Brigade of Pisa, which for the first time with a C-130J aircraft of the Air Force, took part in a nighttime airborne mission in formation, using NVG (Night Visual Goggle) goggles. The modern, complex international scenarios impose on the Italian Armed Forces the duty to constantly develop capabilities that make them increasingly capable of operating in inter-service, interoperable, interagency contexts and alongside the Armed Forces of allied countries. In this perspective, training activities such as Swift Response become all the more fundamental for testing both operational procedures and materials, equipment, and also the capabilities of Command and Control. This type of activity allows for verifying and refining the ability to operate in very complex scenarios. The tandem of paratroopers and aircraft proves fundamental in this type of operations: the Italian Air Force makes available a long arm that allows it to project forces deep into the battlefield. A scheme that was recently used successfully in Niger, with the deployment of personnel and supplies. During Swift Response 19, the Air Force consolidated its ability to develop common dynamics and methods with other allied countries, and to measure itself, after approximately two months of preparation, against a significant test on a dynamic front.

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