Italian F-35s achieve Naval IOC
September 5, 2024
Italy embarks a mix of Navy and Air Force F-35Bs on board the aircraft carrier ‘Cavour’, and it was a mixed component that achieved the significant IOC milestone during the vessel’s ongoing Indo-Pacific deployment. The ‘Cavour’ is undertaking an ‘operational projection campaign’ in the Indo-Pacific region as the core platform of the Italy’s Carrier Strike Group (IT CSG). The group also includes the FREMM ASW frigate ‘Alpino’, and the Multi-purpose Combat Ship (MCS) ‘Montecuccoli’.
The Marina Militare and the Aeronautica Militare “have achieved a growing synergy in recent years,” culminating in the Indo-Pacific exercise. The deployed F-35 component includes six F-35Bs from the Navy’s Gruppo Aerei Imbarcati (GRUPAER) unit (which also operates seven AV-8B+ Harrier IIs alongside the F-35Bs) and two F-35Bs drawn from the Italian Air Force’s 32° Stormo, providing a national (joint) expeditionary sea-based capability.
Initial Operational Capability of the F-35B component was declared by Admiral Enrico Credendino, the Italian Navy Chief of Staff on board the ‘Cavour’, then moored at Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan on 28 August. The milestone was achieved after more than 2,600 flying hours, and certified “the ability to generate, through the 5th generation aircraft embarked on the ‘Cavour’ aircraft carrier, offensive and defensive missions to counter air threats, engage land and naval targets and suppress enemy air defences, projecting itself with the Carrier Strike Group into remote areas and in complete logistical autonomy.”
Admiral Enrico Credendino said that: “Our country is the only one in the European Union to be able to express a Carrier Strike Group with fifth generation assets and – together with the USA and the UK – constitutes the very small nucleus of NATO allies with this capability. In this light, the (IT) Carrier Strike Group with the F-35Bs is a concrete expression of Italy’s rank as a medium regional power with a strong maritime connotation, and represents a tool of reassurance for allies or deterrence against potential adversaries: a versatile and flexible device to project and be influential wherever necessary.”
