The Italian Carrier Strike Group participated from 20 to 28 February – in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea – in the training activity Neptune Strike 23, organised and conducted by the allied command STRIKFORNATO (Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO).
The Italian Carrier Strike Group participated from 20 to 28 February – in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea – in the training activity Neptune Strike 23, organised and conducted by the allied command STRIKFORNATO (Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO).
The Italian carrier group operated in joint activity with the US and Spanish carrier groups and was composed of the aircraft carrier Cavour (C550), the destroyer Caio Duilio (D 554) and the ship Etna (A 5326).
The activity was part of the broader Multi Carrier Operations (MCO) scenario, which, by leveraging the interoperability of air and sea forces, expressed a power multiplier in the Atlantic Alliance’s deterrence and combat capability.
The Italian Navy with the aircraft carrier Cavour, the Armada Espanola with the Landing Helicopter Dock Juan Carlos I, and the US Navy with the aircraft carrier George W. Bush, conducted sea power projection and air defence exercises using the latest-generation F-35B aircraft (from the photos it appears that there are at least three F-35Bs deployed on the Cavour, which would be a first).
“After last May’s participation in the Neptune Shield 2022 surveillance activity, in which the Italian aircraft carrier group came under NATO chain of command for the first time, the Navy also operated alongside the Allies for the Neptune Strike 2023, in continuity with the many initiatives of contribution, collaboration and support underway in NATO and bi-multilateral contexts for the security of the Wider Mediterranean. This is a tangible demonstration of the sense of responsibility with which the Armed Force guarantees its qualifying contribution to active deterrence and maritime surveillance commitments in an area of global strategic importance,” commented the Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Squadron, Admiral Aurelio De Carolis.
“The presence of such devices in the Mediterranean highlights the overall power projection and readiness capability achieved by the Alliance, which is necessary to manage a particularly complex geopolitical and geostrategic scenario, such as the current one,” reported Rear Admiral Giacinto Sciandra – commander of the Italian Carrier Strike Group.
(text and photos – https://www.marina.difesa.it/)