RSS
The mission of the Italian Air Task Force Gladiator at the
According to the press release sent by the Italian Embassy to Bucharest, the mission of the Air Task Force Gladiator at the Mihai Kogalniceanu base ends on 3rd August.
During the 8 months of employment in the Romanian Airspace Surveillance Service, Gladiator carried out four emergency take-offs with interception tasks with the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, numerous similar take-offs for exercise and deterrence purposes and participated in various international exercises under NATO auspices, including Dacian Strike and Air Defender 23, both with GBU-16 laser-guided inactive weapon launches at the Cincu and Smârdan ranges, Neptune Strike 23 and Dracula Flag, the latter organised at unit level with the coordination of Alliance command and control structures.
There have also been numerous Close Air Support (CAS) missions, conducted with the aim of increasing the integration of ground forces. All the activities carried out, with a total of more than 1,700 flight hours, confirmed the high level of interoperability of the Italian Air Force and contributed to an essential exchange of practices with colleagues from the Romanian Air Force.
The strategic importance of the mission was emphasisd over the last months by the numerous visits of the high officials civilian and military, national and international, among whom the minister of defense, deputy Guido Crosetto, representatives of the Commission for Defense and Foreign Affairs of the Senate and the Commission for Defense of the Deputies’ Chamber of Italy, Chief of the Air Staff, Squadron General Luca Goretti, CO.VI Commander, General Figliuolo, a delegation from the US Congress, the head of the NATO Military Committee, the Commander of AIRCOM and the Director of the US Army National Guard Bureau.
All activities took place with the support and participation of the Italian Embassy to Romania and of its close collaborators, starting with the Military Attache of Defense.
Even before the beginning of the Russian aggression on Ukraine, the Italian ministry of defense was present on the Romanian territory with their own flying equipment without interruption (with one exception, the period July – October 2022), both within the scope of the traditional allied mechanism of ‘Air Policing’ and the reinforced mechanism established after the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis (Enhanced Air Policing).
It was a concrete and significant contribution of Italy to the security not only of Romania but to the whole Alliance and especially of the eastern flank and the Black Sea as a strategic area in the vicinity of the conflict zones.
Not less relevant was the social commitment of the Task Force personnel who, due to the involvement of many volunteers, made numerous visits of Clown-Therapy to the oncological pediatric hospital in Constanta and donated a Holter EKG and other medical products to this hospital. The solidarity and generosity were, similarly, in the centre of other charity events such as donation of goods of first necessity, games and stationery for the family type centre Don Bosco from Constanta or the participation in ‘Race for the Cure’ in Bucuresti, initiative in support of research for fighting against breast cancer.
(Photo: https://www.aviation-report.com/)