Red Sea, what the Fasan ship sent from Italy will do
Italy in defense of the Red Sea: already on Sunday, Christmas Eve, the Italian frigate Virgilio Fasan should cross the Suez Canal. All the details
In the next few hours, Italy will send the Fremm (European multi-mission frigate) "Virginio Fasan" to the Red Sea.
Our country will participate with a frigate in the operation to defend navigation in the Red Sea, threatened by attacks by Yemeni Houthi rebels against merchant ships headed for Israel. The official announcement came after a video link attended by the Defense Minister, Guido Crosetto, and the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin.
“Italy”, assured Crosetto, “will do its part, together with the international community, to counter the terrorist destabilization activity of the Houthis, which we have already publicly condemned, and to protect the prosperity of trade and guarantee the freedom of navigation and international law". The Red Sea is in fact fundamental for the economy. “There you calculate that 10% passes through oil alone, then there is liquid gas. We risk finding ourselves with deserted ports in the coming weeks" added Minister Crosetto responding, on the sidelines of the Conference of Ambassadors at the Farnesina, on the situation in the Red Sea.
And the Fasan frigate, equipped with Aster 30 and 15 missiles capable of ensuring protection within a 100 kilometer radius, may not be alone. In fact, it cannot be ruled out that in the future it may be joined by a second Italian ship.
All the details.
FASAN SHIP WILL CONTRIBUTE TO OPERATION PRSPERITY GUARDIAN
The Italian naval mission therefore begins alongside the allies in the Red Sea to patrol the waters targeted by the Houthi rebels. Shia fundamentalists have used drones, boats and missiles to target trade routes on the Red Sea, even attacking and hijacking a merchant ship on November 22. With a Norwegian oil tanker hit by a missile, last week a French frigate shot down two drones launched against a container ship.
The sending of the European multi-mission frigate 'Virgilio Fasan' to the Red Sea was initially scheduled for February as part of the 'Atalanta' anti-piracy mission but at this point it will strengthen the 'Prosperity Guardian' operation launched by Washington, which some should join Arab countries such as Egypt and NATO allies such as France, Great Britain, Norway and Canada, but not Russia which has opted out.
The operation will take advantage of the multinational missions already operating in the area, including Combined Task Force 153 created a year ago by the US to monitor the Gulf of Aden and the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb.
THE TIMINGS
The new threats from the Shiite and pro-Iranian Houthi rebels, who now fear an attack every 12 hours to pressure Israel to stop the offensive on Gaza, have led to an acceleration of the times: already on Sunday, Christmas Eve, the Italian frigate expected to cross the Suez Canal.
THE POSITION OF MINISTER CROSETTO
“During the conversation” with Austin, the Defense Minister reported, “the importance of the principle of free navigation was affirmed, the impact on international trade was assessed and possible options for guaranteeing the security of maritime routes were discussed in order to prevent repercussions on the international economy, with dangerous dynamics on the prices of raw materials".
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF NAVE FASAN
Nave Virginio Fasan (F 591) is the second of the Fremm class frigates (European Multi Mission Frigates) and the first in ASW (Anti Submarine Warfare) configuration, we read on the Defense website . Built in the Fincantieri shipyard in Riva Trigoso, the unit was launched on 31 March 2012 and subsequently transported to the Muggiano shipyard for completion of the fitting out and testing and delivered to the Navy on 19 December 2013. The ship is based in the port of La Spezia and is under the control of the 2nd Naval Group Command.
WHAT THE FASAN SHIP WILL DO IN THE RED SEA
So the F591 frigate of the Italian Defense is preparing to intervene in the Red Sea.
As Corriere della Sera explains, "Fasan's rules of engagement are currently limited to self-defense against possible attacks with drones and missiles by the Houthis – who can count on an Iranian-made arsenal – thanks to the detection and killing systems with precision cannons and machine guns, as well as with jammer devices capable of neutralizing any connection of remotely guided aircraft and making them fall into the sea, not to mention the missile section in case of need".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/mar-rosso-cosa-fara-nave-fasan-inviata-dallitalia/ on Tue, 19 Dec 2023 15:30:38 +0000.