Air Force General Mario Renzo Ottone’s visit coincided with the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the Poggio Renatico Air Defence Reporting and Control Group. The General, welcomed by Lieutenant Colonel Daniele Antonini, Commander of the GRCDA, after signing the Unit’s Book of Honour, visited the Operations Room, where he attended a briefing on the Group’s tasks and organisation and observed the personnel who work there on a daily basis, ensuring the surveillance of the airspace under its jurisdiction. At the conclusion of the visit, General Ottone highlighted the value of the work carried out by the Radar Groups, expressing his sincere appreciation for the enthusiasm and motivation demonstrated by all GRCDA personnel. The Air Defence Reporting and Control Group, which has been integrated into the NATO Command and Control (C2) system since peacetime, ensures the continuous surveillance of the airspace under its jurisdiction, control of manned interceptors and, as the only air defence site in Italy, of remotely piloted interceptors. To fulfil its mission, GRCDA personnel are regularly deployed in both national and NATO exercises and make use of a range of early warning systems (local and remote sensors) distributed across Italy and Slovenia and, where necessary, airborne radar assets (AWACS aircraft). These systems enable the Operations Centre staff to maintain an accurate picture of the radar sky and to carry out constant analysis of air traffic, thereby optimising detection and identification functions. Should the situation require it, the Group is able to ensure a prompt and rapid response to any aerial threat, whether military or terrorist in nature, by controlling the airborne assets placed on alert and appropriately deployed across the country. The equipment at its disposal also enables the Group to exchange information with neighbouring air defence agencies, both Italian and foreign (Germany, Slovenia, France) and with the higher-level authorities within the NATO and national C2 chain, thereby ensuring a level of flexibility, readiness, interconnection and interoperability that makes our air defence system modern, effective and efficient. As part of the restructuring of the Armed Forces and in anticipation of the future acquisition and full operational capability of the NATO Command and Control system known as ACCS, the GRCDA has further enhanced its technical and operational capabilities by developing the capacity to provide airspace surveillance and interceptor control across the entire national territory, over Slovenia and, in the event of a failure at neighbouring sites, over Albania.
