Italy ready to send Nave Cavour to the Indo-Pacific
First the Cavour aircraft carrier will be transferred to Fincantieri's Palermo shipyards for maintenance work in mid-May. And at the end of the year, the Italian Navy will send ship Cavour to the Indo-Pacific region, according to what was announced by the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy, Admiral Giuseppe Berutti Bergotto
Not only the Mediterranean, Italy looks to the Indo-Pacific and is ready to send Cavour, flagship of the Navy.
In mid-May, the Cavour aircraft carrier will be transferred “to the Palermo shipyards for maintenance work. The Fincantieri plant will welcome in the 400,000-ton dry dock (among the largest in Europe) the ship that helps NATO defend the West” Palermo Today reported last week.
Last month, specifically from 20 to 28 February, the Italian Aircraft Carrier Group with Nave Cavour participated in the Neptune Strike 23 exercise in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, organized and conducted by the allied command STRIKFORNATO (Naval Striking and Support Forces Nato) . The Italian Aircraft Carrier Group operated in joint activity with the US and Spanish aircraft carrier groups and consisted of the aircraft carrier Cavour, the destroyer Caio Duilio and the ship Etna.
But after the maintenance work, Cavour will be sent to the Indo Pacific between the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024 for joint operations with the allies. This was confirmed in a conference held on March 14 at the Catholic University of Milan by Admiral Giuseppe Berutti Bergotto, deputy chief of staff of the Navy, reported by Formiche.net, Libero newspaper and il Foglio.
On the other hand, the fact that the Italian government has begun to look to the East became evident when, on a visit to India at the beginning of the month, Prime Minister Meloni announced Italy's adhesion to the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative. "We have chosen", Meloni explained, "to announce Italy's accession to the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative precisely because we believe that, in an international context that must be based on rules, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity , stability and the vision of an open Indo-Pacific that respects the rules are fundamental”.
During the period Cavour will sail in Asia, the Italian Navy will use LHD Trieste in the Mediterranean.
All the details.
WHAT DOES CAVOUR SHIP
Launched in 2004 at the Fincantieri shipyard in Riva Trigoso and delivered to the Navy in 2008, the Cavour aircraft carrier can assume, even simultaneously, the role of aircraft carrier, logistic and amphibious platform, command headquarters unit and hospital ship.
“The activities carried out by the Unit, from national and international exercises, through the White Crane mission to rescue the Haitian population hit by the terrible earthquake in January 2010, up to the Campaign carried out with the 30th Naval Group in the Arabian Gulf and circumnavigating Africa , have highlighted its exceptional versatility and effectiveness, both from a purely military point of view and from a 'dual use' perspective” reads the Navy website .
On 10 September 2011, the aircraft carrier obtained official certification from NATO. In March 2021 Nave Cavour acquired the certification for the use of the F-35b.
MAINTENANCE WORKS IN PALERMO
In about two months, the flagship of the Navy will undergo maintenance work in the 400,000-ton dry dock of the Fincantieri shipyard. "In addition to the Cavour, in December the Trieste is expected to arrive in Palermo, a multi-purpose amphibious unit of the Navy, built in the Fincantieri plant in Castellammare di Stabia, which should undergo maintenance work" adds Palermo Today .
THE MISSION IN THE INDO-PACIFIC
And once ready to leave the dock of the Sicilian shipyard of Fincantieri, ship Cavour will prepare to set sail towards the Indo-Pacific.
In particular, between the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, the Italian Navy will send an aircraft carrier squadron to the Indo-Pacific to operate with the allies, as announced by the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Italian Navy, Admiral Giuseppe Berutti Bergotto, speaking at a conference at the Catholic University of Milan.
“It will sail to Japan, then take the way back. The formation will include the aircraft carrier Cavour and the escort vessels, i.e. a destroyer, a frigate and a team replenisher,” Bergotto explained.
"The mission will be preceded by the offshore patrol vessel Morosini being sent to the Pacific, which will carry out a four-month training cruise", added Berrutti Bergotto.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/italia-pronta-a-inviare-nave-cavour-nellindo-pacifico/ on Fri, 31 Mar 2023 14:29:40 +0000.