What an Italian Air Force G550 Caew spy plane does in Ukraine
For the first time, one of the two G550 Caew aircraft of the 14th Wing of the Italian Air Force carried out a surveillance mission within the Romanian airspace south of the border with Ukraine. All the details on the aircraft manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries
Surveillance of the ongoing war in Ukraine, "Italy also present on the spot with a spy plane", writes today Dario Fabbri, editor of Scenari , a geopolitical monthly of the daily Domani .
On March 8, one of the two G550 Caew (Conformal Airborne Early Warning) aircraft of the Italian Air Force carried out a 4-hour mission over eastern Romania near the border with Moldova and Ukraine.
“This is a Gulfstream Caew, believed to be the most powerful intelligence system in the world. And within the Atlantic Alliance, the Air Force is the only one to have it ” underlines Repubblica .
It was the first time ever that the Italian surveillance plane flew over Eastern Europe after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Italian Air Force deploys two G550 Caews, acquired by Israel Aerospace Industries, on line and operational since 2016/17. The order is part of a military agreement between Italy and Israel in 2003. The latter included two G-550 Caew aircraft and an OPSAT 3000 observation and control satellite for the supply of 30 Leonardo M-346 advanced training aircraft. to the Israeli Air Force.
All the details on the spy aircraft of the Italian Air Force.
SURVEILLANCE MISSION ON THE ROMANIAN-UKRAINIAN BORDER OF ONE OF THE AM G550 CAEW
On March 8, one of the two G550 Caew aircraft of the 14th Wing of the Italian Air Force carried out a surveillance mission inside the Romanian airspace, not far from the eastern border with Vltava and south of the border with Ukraine.
"The flight – reported by several spotters who monitor the traffic in the skies, including Italmilradar, through websites such as Flightradar24 – began before dawn from the Roman airport of Pratica di Mare, home of the 14th flock, and continued for almost six hours ”reports Repubblica .
TOGETHER WITH THE OTHER NATO ASSETS
As The Aviotionist explained, "the aircraft of the Italian special mission G550 joins a team of NATO assets, including US E-8 JSTARS and RC-135V / W, British Airseeker ISR (Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance) that almost constantly monitor the situation on the ground and in the air in Ukraine and along the borders with Belarus and Moldova ”.
"But the capabilities of the Air Force aircraft are considered to be superior to those of any other Western system" once again points out Repubblica .
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF CAEW
The Caew aircraft – reads the Air Force website – is a multi-sensor system with aerial surveillance, command, control and communications functions, instrumental to air supremacy and support for ground forces. It is based on the Gulfstream G550 commercial platform, subsequently modified in part by the manufacturing company itself (Type A modification ), and in part by the Company Elta Systems Ltd in Ashdod, Israel, with the preparation and assembly of mission systems (Type B modification ).
“A sort of flying command post” defined it the former Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Alberto Rosso. “Through aerial surveillance, command, control and communications functions, it is able to offer the Italian Defense a fundamental operational contribution in terms of Information Superiority” had specified Rosso.
Furthermore, the “AEW-BM & C (Airborne Early Warning, Battlefield Management & Communication) capability provided by the Caew aircraft represents an indispensable tool to ensure an adequate extension of the surveillance capacity of the national airspace” underlines the Air Force.
THE DOMAIN OF INFORMATION
According to Repubblica "The Caew is a concentrate of advanced Israeli design technologies: a very expensive machine – the price is close to half a billion euros – with science fiction performance".
The electronic scanning radar is capable of capturing and processing a large amount of data, which can be shared with all relevant "players", including ground radar stations, other aircraft, ships.
THE ITALO-ISRAELI AGREEMENT OF 2003
Finally, as mentioned at the beginning, Italy purchased two Caew aircraft as part of a government agreement with Israel in 2003 which provided for the sale of Leonardo M346 trainers.
"For the Italian Defense it was a real operational leap because it came into possession of very advanced systems that have gone to fill the heavy gaps existing in the air defense and intelligence sector" noted Aurelio Giansiracusa of AresDifesa .
In 2020 the then Conte government decided to upgrade the fleet, providing for the purchase of another 8 aircraft .
Moreover. last December the defense committees of the Chamber and Senate gave a favorable opinion on the “multi-year program of modernization and renewal A / R n. SMD 37/2021, taking the form of the planned 2nd tranche of the already launched and approved A / R program no. SMD 03/2020 ("Multi-Mission, Multi-Sensor Aerial Platform").
"This program is aimed at the progressive implementation of structural changes and integration of the CAEW (Conformal Airborne Early Warning) mission system on Gulfstream G-550 aircraft purchased in the" green "version aimed at achieving Full Mission Capability, in the strategic segments of the characterization, surveillance and monitoring of the tactical-operational situation, strategic and operational level decision support, multi-domain Command and Control (C2) and electronic protection ”explained Giansiracusa.
DELIVERED A NEW AIRCRAFT IN PRATICA DI MARE
On 7 March, the Air Force received the first of 8 Gulfstream G550 green Jamms aircraft at the Pratica di Mare air base. As reported by the sites Janes , The Aviationist and Repubblica.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/cosa-fa-in-ucraina-un-aereo-spia-g550-caew-dellaeronautica-italiana/ on Fri, 18 Mar 2022 14:58:13 +0000.