31 July 2024
The Italian aircraft carrier ITS Cavour has sailed through week two at Exercise Pitch Black 24, with the intent to enhance interchangeability with its international allies.
Their Indo-Pacific campaign has involved integrated training with Spanish, French, United States and United Kingdom, and of course the 20 nations participating on Pitch Black alongside Australia.
Pitch Black is an opportunity for the Italian Carrier Strike Group (CSG) to raise capability as one of the biggest large-force employment exercises in the southern hemisphere, noted by Commander of the Italian CSG Rear Admiral Giancarlo Ciappina.
“These last few days have been really successful for the exercise; yesterday there was a huge flying formation over the CSG,” he said.
“They’ve been involved in all kinds of missions with the other air forces, developing ammunitions, air-to-ground activity, it’s been very rewarding.”
Italy’s second-week missions on Pitch Black have involved launching fifth- and fourth-generation aircraft directly from the carrier: the F-35B Lightning II and AV-8B Harrier.
ITS Cavour is sailing alongside frigate ITS Alpino and boasts a large multinational footprint with support from Spanish, United States and French vessels as well as embedded Royal Navy crew from the United Kingdom.
“This is the biggest air force exercise in this area, so we really wanted to be here, to take advantage of such professionalism of the nations participating. It’s essential to develop our capability,” Rear Admiral Ciappina said.
“We’re trying go further than interoperability. Interchangeability is a little bit forward, it allows you to exchange crews, ships and aircraft aboard the ships.”
In pursuit of this objective, after Pitch Black, the Italian CSG will swap helicopters with a French frigate and provide escort vessels to other nations’ CSG – this is interchangeability.
Commanding Officer ITS Cavour Captain Milos Argenton explained the aircraft carrier was able to operate with a short take-off and vertical landing for the F-35B and AV-8B.
“The aircraft come parallel to the ship and cross the deck to land,” he said.
“For take-off, they position themselves between the 300 and 250-feet line from the end of the ski jump, and launch using speed as well as engines that rotate downward.”
The CSG will return to Italy on November 5 after a five-month deployment involving a plethora of exercises, operations and activities.
