Deployment of Italian Navy ships outside the Mediterranean

Today, in an interview with Corriere della Sera, Italy’s largest newspaper, Steve Bannon, former strategist of Trump’s 2016 victory and leader of the media arm of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, also made some statements about the Italian Navy. He said: “However, Italy has not done enough to keep the Suez Canal open for commerce: among the carrier strike groups there, I believe there’s only one Italian corvette.”

This statement contains at least two errors. The first is that currently in the Red Sea there is no carrier strike group, American or otherwise. The second is that Italy is operating in that region as part of the European mission “Aspides” and currently does not deploy any corvette (nor has it ever done so in the past) but rather the destroyer Caio Duilio (D554), undoubtedly one of the best naval units in its fleet.

This episode could serve as an opportunity to clarify the activities of the Italian Navy outside the Mediterranean in recent weeks:

– The destroyer Caio Duilio (D554) is indeed in the Red Sea, operating within the EUFORNAV Aspides mission.

– Patrol boats Esploratore (P405), Staffetta (P408), Vedetta (P407), and Sentinella (P406) are in the Red Sea (Multinational Force and Observers Sinai mission).

– The patrol vessel Borsini (P 491) is in the Gulf of Guinea, operating within the anti-piracy operation Gabinia.

– The frigate Carabiniere (F 593) is in the North Sea as part of the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) of the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Truman.

– The training ship Amerigo Vespucci (A5312) continues her round-the-world voyage and is currently in Phuket, Thailand.

Additionally, let’s recall that the Italian CSG, consisting of the carrier ITS Cavour (C 550), the frigate ITS Alpino (F 592), and the patrol vessel ITS Montecuccoli (P 432), returned last week from a five-month mission in the Far East.