Just over 200 kilometers from the Russian border which are equivalent to about two minutes of flight for a supersonic jet. Amari’s military base is placed in Estonia and represents a strategic outpost for NATO increasingly struggling with Russian provocations that manifest themselves with drones and also, as happened on September 19, with the entry of Russian Mig to the Estonian territory.
It will be this last outpost of Europe on the border of Russia to be visited by Sergio Mattarella on 10 October as part of a visit to Estonia for an informal summit of European heads of state that will take place in the capital Tallin.
The presence of the President of the Italian Republic in this basis has a high symbolic value and is well part of the head of the state of tireless closeness to Ukraine. Sergio Mattarella, who was also Minister of Defense from 1999 to 2001, will bring his proximity to the Italian Top Gun all the highly specialized soldiers who in recent weeks operate in a very risky context that requires speed and cold blood.
Among radar, like the Kronos of the Italian anti-aircraft missile system Samp-T, and spy planes, operate about 100 Italian soldiers led by Colonel Gaetano Farina, in the past commander of the Frecce Tricolori, operate to Amari.
The Italian aerial force is present with means and staff from the 32nd flock of Amendolara and the sixth flock of Ghedi and is part of the Task Force Air – 32nd Wing: he is responsible for patrolling and air interception operations under the NATO coordination of the Combines Air Operations Center (CAOC) of UEDEM, Germany.
Precisely from this base on 19 September the alert siren resonated in the Hangar – for the umpteenth time in less than two months – triggering the riders for the urgent take -off of their two F35 in a handful of minutes.
To the two Italian top guns, who live day and night in an area of the shed always dressed in a suit during the mission, a few moments are enough to coordinate with the help of ten other men, wear helmets and activate turbines.
Flying overcoming the speed of sound and in a few seconds they approach the aircraft called ‘zombiè, that is to say unidentified planes. From the Estonian base they not only take off the F35. Previously the Italian military had intercepted Russian drones in the Polish space, this time with another aircraft, the so -called ‘Caew’, a sort of radar plane that acquires daily traces in flight.
The president Mattarella, before the visit to the military base, will participate in the traditional arraiolos summit, an informal consultation format that collects several European heads of state. The Estonian presidency has directed the discussions on two great themes: artificial intelligence and global security.
But the attention of the leaders will be all aimed at the Ukrainian crisis that worries so much the small Baltic towns given the evident decrease in American attention to this area of the world.