General Sampaoli chaired the opening of the new facility. The ceremony was chaired by Air Brigadier General Sandro Sampaoli, Commander of the 9th ISTAR-EW (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance – Electronic Warfare) Air Brigade, who during his speech thanked the personnel of GrAIO for their dedication, recalling the importance of “producing quality” while ensuring sustainability, as outlined in the CAGI (Air Force Image Analysis and Management Capability) plan. The event began with a welcome greeting from the Director of CIGA, Colonel Marco Galgani, who thanked the authorities present. Afterwards, Lieutenant Colonel Fabrizio Maglio, Commander of GrAIO, presented the Unit. The ceremony concluded with the traditional ribbon-cutting and the blessing of the new facility by the Military Chaplain.
The Group, established in 2012, has operated until now in a temporary location situated within the CIGA. The new facility, as well as enabling the optimisation of the processes already partially underway for the analysis and processing of imagery data originating from Armed Forces reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition sensors, will enable all the functions set out in the CAGI plan to be performed in a sustainable manner. The GrAIO satisfies new and diversified requirements. Rapid growth and the wealth of experience gained have made it possible, as from 27th March, to achieve an Initial Operational Capability (IOC).
