NATO will operate from Poggio Renatico the control of NATO air forces in Europe.
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By March 2010, NATO will rely on the radar base at Poggio Renatico (Ferrara) control of the airspace between the Atlantic Ocean and the Danube delta. The decision to strengthen and expand geographically functioning of the Italian military was announced at the conclusion of the annual conference of the commanders of NATO’s Southern Region, held its own in Poggio Renatico and who attended, among others, U.S. Air Force General, Maurice L. Mc Fann, supreme commander of the air component of the Atlantic Alliance in Europe.
The new structure of NATO air commands was presented, which will be reorganized into only two CAOC (Combined Air Operations Center): Poggio Renatico and Larissa in Greece that will take control of the South-eastern Europe. “This is the transition to a mechanism for more integrated air defense,” said the statement issued by NATO, “in which the CAOC in Poggio Renatico will be responsible for the Air Policing, surveillance of airspace, including the use of interceptor aircraft, even in the skies of Portugal and Spain, in addition to the existing countries of Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Albania and Italy of course.
Until now, the control of the European area was attributed to five phases Caoc and Poggio followed Renatico priority operations in the Balkans. Regarding the integration of radar commands now housed in the Iberian Peninsula, will be implemented bilateral agreements between NATO and the respective countries that regulate the “operation of illegal or unusual occurrences that take place in the airspace southeast Europe.” The process of transition and centralization of controls Allied aircraft in Italy and Greece will also be implemented through a series of training activities that will be added to those already provided in 2010 for the NATO Response Force (NRF), the newly formed rapid reaction force, which will see the direct involvement of Caoc Poggio Renatico and Air Component Command in Izmir (Turkey).
During the conference of the commanders of the NATO Southern Region has also been analyzed the progress of the program ACCS (Air Command and Control System), the new system of command and control for combat aircraft that is about to become operational within the ‘Alliance, under the coordination of the base of Poggio Renatico. The creation of Air Combat and Control System (estimated cost of 1,5 billion) was entrusted to the ACSI International Consortium (Raytheon (USA) and Thales (France)).
The Italian company SELEX Sistemi Integrati, which is already in the ’70s had actively participated in the program NADGE predecessor dell’ACCS is one of the major partners of the program has developed the interface for more than 300 civilians miltari radar is located in the 14 countries that originally were part of NATO. SELEX also be responsible for implementation of two other sites in addition to the second site planned for Italy.
In addition to Caoc NATO, the military base housing the provincial Air Force Operational Command (COFA) of the Air Force, born from the merger of 1 ROC Monte Venda (Padova) and 11 ° Gruppo Radar Ferrara. The COFA Poggio Renatico is a top of the Italian armed forces is responsible for national air traffic control, guarantees the activity of training of national staff and allies in Italy and the service of search and rescue (SAR) plan and coordinate the use of air forces in NATO missions. Employed by the COFA Carry the Group operates and Control Air Defense (GRCDA) Air Force, integrated system of command and control C2 NATO, which has the functions of watching, identification and “quick response” to any threats via control of missile batteries and fighter interceptors placed on alert throughout the national territory and guided interceptors such as the unmanned Predator B “recently installed in the air base Amendola (Puglia). To fulfill their missions, GRCDA Poggio Renatico uses a series of sensors “Early Warning” distributed in Italy and in NATO countries and, where applicable, AWACS radar planes. Group attributes are also tasks of training and training the operations of the air war of military personnel in some countries of Eastern Europe (Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, Albania, etc.)..
As part of the restructuring of the Italian armed forces and as a result of the acquisition and full operation of the Command and Control System NATO ACCS, the GRCDA will be reconfigured into “ARS department” as a single control center of the national airspace, with consequent growth of its facilities and personnel. The radar center is located in Poggio Renatico old airports “Giuseppe Veronese”, located less than 4 kilometers from the town of Ferrara. The installation was built in 1951 when the General Staff of the Air Force decided to locate, on an experimental basis, a small mobile radar antenna operating in tandem with the similar location of Punta Marina (Ravenna). Nineteen years later he was transferred to Poggio Renatico the 11th Radar Group, which was integrated into the NATO command and control system called “Nadge” in order to monitor the borders of the Alliance countries, from Turkey to Norway. In 1983, the foundation gained in importance with the installation of a new, more powerful radar station and the system of liaison with the NATO AWACS aircraft entered service in Europe. In the early ’90s, the NATO decided to finance the construction of a home in Poggio Renatico protected with three floors underground, in infrastructure and an atomic explosion-proof room operations designed to inherit the duties of the regional operations center of Monte Venda. In 1998 the foundation received the headquarters of the Center COFA until then housed in Vicenza at the headquarters of the 5th Tactical Air Force NATO (ATAF). The next year the COFA of Poggio Renatico had its baptism of fire by participating in the planning and conduct of the bombing in Serbia and Kosovo during Operation Allied Forces “. The center, which originally saw the participation of staff only Italian, spent to host the Alliance’s military from thirteen countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, Turkey and Hungary). Starting in 2001 the radar base were expanded infrastructure and housing for military families in tow, through the creation of more than 270 new housing. The phase of expansion and modernization of the COFA Caoc 5 and continued until June 2004. Currently sit in the Ferrara base 1500-1600 people. The plan for strengthening and centralizing functions yet another NATO aircraft will increase the number of Italian military personnel and foreign guests at Poggio Renatico with undoubted economic benefits to the surrounding area.
