Italy Intervening in... Italy?!

With political violence on the rise in Italy, will the Army get involved?

Italy is considering using the army to protect the defense conglomerate Finmeccanica and the tax collection agency Equitalia, the targets of a series of attacks that are raising concerns about political violence, the interior minister said.
Although protests against Italy's austerity program have been largely peaceful, last week a well-known anarchist group claimed responsibility for an attack in which a Finmeccanica executive was shot in the leg.
"Investigators tell me this is a credible claim. This forces us to raise our guard to avoid an escalation that, sadly, is one possible scenario. This is what we are going to do in the next days," Interior Minister Annamaria Cancellieri told the daily La Repubblica in an interview.
She said using the army to defend potential targets was "a possible solution".
A national security committee will meet on Thursday. Cancellieri said Equitalia, the target of a string of letter bomb and petrol bomb attacks, needed tighter security.

By: Brant

Sound Off! Spain vs Italy

Like our previous showdowns (Canada v Australia, Germany v France), we want you to tell us who you think has the better military heritage:

Spain! Conquered the New World, ruled the seas for 100 years, and have some bad-ass troops around the globe today...

Italy! Rome, the Bersaglieri, and indigenous attack helicopters...

Sound off in the comments below!

By: Brant

NEWS: Bomb Blasts in Rome

The Swiss and Chilean embassies have been hit. There's an investigation right now at the Ukrainian embassy.

CNN here

BBC News here


map from the BBC


By: Brant

Italian Troops Will Leave Afghanistan By 2014

More good news for the Taliban. Italy has become the latest NATO country to announce the withdrawal of combat troops from Afghanistan.

Franco Frattini, Italy's foreign minister said its 3,400 troops will have left the country by 2014.

The Italian decision follows the withdrawal of Dutch troops earlier this year and the Canadian decision to leave next year, as commanders struggle to sure up an alliance which is still short of troops.

Nato commanders have found it increasingly difficult to persuade members to stay in Afghanistan in the face of mounting death tolls and domestic opposition.

Mr Frattini spoke as Italy mourned four Italian soldiers killed at the weekend when their convoy was blown up in western Afghanistan.

He said: "To the families of our soldiers who died a heroic death I want to confirm that there's a political plan for Afghanistan, that their loved ones have not been sent to certain defeat in an impossible mission."

"That's with a timing that has yet to be decided: summer 2011 for the start of a gradual drawdown of troops, with the intention of completing it by 2014," he told an Italian newspaper.

By: Shelldrake

Monday Video: Allies in Afghanistan

Starting off the week with an allied "BANG"


Don't forget to nominate your own videos in the comments below for future inclusion


By: Brant

Italian Navy Ship Docks In Halifax

The Italian warship San Giusto, on a midshipmen training tour, has made port at Halifax, Canada.

Brilliant sunlight and the cries of seagulls greeted the Italian amphibious ship San Giusto as it landed in Halifax Harbour on Wednesday morning.

The 133-metre warship, which is emblazoned with a motto that translates to "courage cannot fail when we are in the right," arrived shortly after 9 a.m. The ship is docked for a four-day visit as part of the annual training campaign of cadets.

Squinting at the bright morning, Cmdr. Stefano Frumento nodded in appreciation of the welcoming weather.

"We’ve been lucky," he said of the ship’s travels to Portugal, Bermuda, Boston and Norfolk, Va.

"For me, it’s the first time in Halifax. It’s a wonderful city," said Capt. Edoardo Giacomini.

The San Giusto left Italy on July 12 on a 2½-month training tour. It carries 92 second-year midshipmen, including 20 women and three foreign cadets.

"The overall goal of the campaign is to enhance the education of the young naval officers that we have on board," said Giacomini.

"This is the first experience for them with a navy warship. They will be introduced to naval skills, techniques and operational procedures. They will have the opportunity to test themselves in a sea environment while operating beside the crew."

At the end of the campaign, the midshipmen will be classified as official members of the Italian navy and carry the rank of ensign, he said.

[snip...]

The San Giusto has been in active service since 1994. Along with a flight deck and a hospital area, the ship has a floodable docking well, which allows it to take on water and deploy amphibious vehicles from the interior of the vessel.

It operates with a crew of 180 and can accommodate an additional 330 personnel. In addition, it can hold up to six medium-heavy helicopters on the flight deck and house 30 medium tanks or 36 tracked armoured vehicles.

The ship is also used for disaster relief operations, civil protection and humanitarian rescue efforts.

By: Shelldrake

Video Bonus: WWII Footage From North Africa

Silent, with interspersed title cards.

By:

BUB: Weapons Acquisitions Around the World

The Turks are buying 27 Italian attack helicopters.

A Turkish request for the purchase of nine US-made Bell AH-1W Super Cobra helicopters is also on the table, and Turkey has not abandoned its desire to acquire them, Gönül told Today's Zaman.

Turkey's decision to urgently buy attack helicopters comes at a time when the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has heightened and expanded its attacks inside Turkey. The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), believed to have links with the PKK, claimed responsibility for a recent bomb attack against a military bus that killed five people in İstanbul.

The Undersecretariat for the Defense Industry (SSM) announced on June 15 that it will buy nine Italian-built AgustaWestland (AW) A129 Mangusta attack helicopters.

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The Indians are picking up some French rocket guidance systems.

France-based defence company Sagem of the Safran group has delivered the Sigma 30 artillery navigation and pointing systems for the Indian Army's Pinaka multiple launch rocket systems.
The first two regiments of the Indian Army deploying the indigenous Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers will be equipped with the new artillery systems, the company announced.

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And the Brits are buying, well, British weapons upgrades for their aircraft.

Introduction of the Insensitive Munition (IM) variant of the Dual Mode Brimstone guided missile will provide the UK's Royal Air Force with a low collateral, precision attack capability against manoeuvring and fixed targets, in line with operational requirements and forms part of a wider weaponry package known as SPEAR (Selective Precision Effects At Range).

By: Brant

Order of Battle: Italy's Blackshirts

The infamous Blackshirt fascist militia of Mussolini's Italy were organized along quasi-Roman lines, hoping to recapture some of their forefathers' prowess.

Zona (zone) = division
Legione (legion) = regiment, each legion was a militia unit consisting of a small active cadre and a large reserve of civilian volunteers.
Coorte (cohort) = battalion
Centuria (centuria) = company
Manipolo (maniple)= platoon
Squadra (squad) = squad
These units were also organized on the triangular principle as follows:
3 squadre = 1 manipolo (maniple)
3 manipoli = 1 centuria (centurie)
3 centurie = 1 coorte (cohort)
3 coorti = 1 legione (legion)
3 legioni = 1 divisioni (field division)
3 or more legioni = 1 zona (zone - an administrative division)

By: Brant

BUB: Updates Around the World

An American aircraft crashes in Afghanistan.

A U.S. Air Force tilt-rotor aircraft crashed in southeastern Afghanistan, killing three service members and one government contractor, NATO said Friday.
Other personnel aboard were injured and were taken to a military base for treatment, NATO said.
The CV-22 Osprey went down about 7 miles (11 kilometers) from Qalat, the capital of Zabul province, NATO said. The cause of the crash was under investigation.
The Osprey takes off and lands as a helicopter, but its engines roll forward in flight, allowing it to fly faster than a standard helicopter.
A Zabul government spokesman, Mohhamed Jahn Rasuliyar, confirmed the crash and casualty figure.
A Taliban spokesman had earlier claimed militants shot down the aircraft, part of a pattern of the insurgents making such claims to promote their cause of driving foreign forces from the country.

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Chile has handed over weapons-grade uranium to the US.

With U.S. President Barack Obama shifting his nuclear nonproliferation strategy to rogue states and terrorists, Chile has become an example of how small countries can play a big part in making the world safer.
Vast amounts of highly enriched uranium, or HEU, is being stored in relatively insecure locations around the world. Just 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of it — the size of a grapefruit — could create a mushroom cloud of radioactivity and devastate an entire city if detonated.
At a nonproliferation summit Monday in Washington, Obama will encourage leaders from 47 countries to work with the U.S. to secure and remove HEU from reactors, as Chile finally did last month.
"We are happy to see it go," Fernando Lopez of the Chilean Nuclear Energy Commission told The Associated Press, which exclusively witnessed the secret transfer of the material from reactors near Santiago to the United States.
"Countries normally don't want to be loaded with waste from other countries," Lopez acknowledged. "To put it in a safe place is valuable for everybody."

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There's a new US-Brazil defense treaty.

The United States and Brazil may sign a new agreement as early as Monday meant to bolster military ties, despite tensions over Iran and signs a U.S. firm might lose a major Brazilian defense contract.
Pentagon officials acknowledged on Wednesday a new defense cooperation agreement with Brazil was being worked on and could be signed as early as next week. Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said he hoped it could happen on Monday.
"I'm trying to agree with Secretary Gates to sign this accord in Washington on Monday," Jobim said in Brasilia, referring to U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
A diplomatic source familiar with the document described the accord as partly symbolic. Jobim said it was an umbrella agreement meant to facilitate future defense negotiations.
Still, it would be the first of its kind in more than 30 years, taking the place of an agreement that Brazil's then-military dictatorship withdrew from in 1977, said the diplomatic source, who declined to be identified.

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Moscow is formalizing their support of South Ossetia.

Moscow and Tskhinvali signed on April 7 an agreement according to which Russia will operate military base in the breakaway region for 49 years.

According to the agreement, signed by Russia’s Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Defense Minister of breakaway region Yuri Tanayev, the military base will protect “sovereignty and security of South Ossetia” and “to counter acts of armed attacks by international terrorist formations.”
A similar agreement on operation of a military base in Abkhazia was signed between Moscow and Sokhumi in February, 2010.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry said that such agreements “signed between the occupant country and the proxy regime created” by Russia “has no legal effects and is invalid.”
“Instead of carrying out its international obligations, Russia strengthens military presence on the occupied territories of Georgia and tries to place the process of creation of military bases for its occupation troops within ‘quasi legitimate’ frames,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry’s statement reads.

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Pakistan is buying anti-air / anti-missile(?) systems from Italy.

Pakistan will test-fire in July the Spada 2000 air defense system acquired from MBDA Italia, a source at the firm said April 7.
The Spada test-firing will follow the delivery of the first of ten Spada batteries ordered by Pakistan for 415 million euros in 2007. Antonio Perfetti, CEO of MBDA Italia, said that delivery of the battery was currently underway.
All 10 batteries are due for delivery by 2013, and further orders from Pakistan could follow, Perfetti said. MBDA Italia is the Finmeccanica-owned Italian operation within the European missile house MBDA.
"We have identified 95 percent of the offset arrangements on the Spada contract," said Perfetti, who added that offset was less than the full value of the contract. "A facility has already been set aside for munition assembly and other firms have been given work commitments."

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The UK is leading international naval exercises with the HMS Ark Royal.

British Royal Navy's flagship aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal will join French submarine FS Perle and US destroyer USS Barry to lead a series of international naval exercises in the North and West Atlantic between May and August.
The ship set sail from Portsmouth on Tuesday and will head the international task group – 'Auriga 2010' – to carry out the exercises, the UK Ministry of Defence said.
Portsmouth-based Type 42 destroyer HMS Liverpool will leave on May 10 to join the task group, it said.
Other ships taking part in the drill include Royal Navy's Type 23 frigate HMS Sutherland and Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel Fort George.
They will be supported by an amphibious force comprising Devonport-based HMS Ocean and Royal Fleet Auxiliary Largs Bay, together with Royal Marines from 3 Commando Brigade and RN helicopters, the MoD said.

By: Brant

Another Tuckfard in need of a hot cup of STFU

An Italian "relief specialist" is complaining that the relief effort in Haiti isn't good enough.

Italy's top disaster expert has called the Haiti quake-relief effort a "pathetic" failure, criticising the militarised approach of the United States as ineffective and out of touch for the emergency at hand.
Guido Bertolaso, Italy's well-respected civil protection chief, said what was needed was a single international civilian co-ordinator to take charge, and for individual countries and aid agencies to stop flying their flags and posing for TV cameras and get to work.
"Unfortunately there's this need to make a 'bella figura' before the TV cameras rather than focus on what's under the debris," said Mr Bertolaso, who won praise for his handling of Italy's 2009 quake in Abruzzo.
In particular, he criticised what he called the well-meaning but ineffective US-run military operation. The US military has more than 2,000 troops on the ground, helping to deliver humanitarian aid.
US officials have defended their presence and dismissed such criticism, which has most vocally been levelled by leftist Latin American leaders.

Tell you what, Tuckfard - get your salami-smelling ass on a plane with 5,000 of your closest friends, and set up your own pizza join in the middle of PaP to start handing out free food. You had the good fortune of having a worthwhile national infrastructure within which to operate back in 2009. Haiti doesn't. Never has, probably never will. You don't like our troops helping out? Fine. Show up with your own fucking rescue squad and get the fuck to work. Don't tell us what we're doing wrong until you're out there doing it right.

By: Brant

BUB: Around the World in a Single Post!

Japan's naval support in the Indian Ocean is heading home.

The Japanese Defense Ministry Friday ended its Indian Ocean refueling mission for the U.S.-led anti-terrorism effort relating to Afghanistan.

Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa's order issued to Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force came after a law authorizing the refueling mission expired.

Kitazawa told reporters the demand for the refueling operations, in effect since December 2001, had been declining in recent years, Kyodo News reported.

Instead, the new Japanese government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has pledged up to $5 billion in civilian aid to Afghanistan.

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The Italian government is using defense spending to prop up domestic industry. Hmmmmm....

Into 2010, the Italian government appears to begin to see defence procurement as a means to protect employment. This suggests that defence procurement spending will bottom out in 2009, before returning to marginal growth in 2010. In total, the report estimates that defence spending will reach EUR27.4bn in 2009. The global economic slowdown has yet to seriously impact defence expenditure in the country, a trend that the Stockholm International Peace Research Unit (SIPRI) believes is consistent around the globe. In 2008, global military spending reached US$1.5trn, an increase of 4%.

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Hackers are targeting defense industry secrets. Suspicions are inevitably pointed at the Chinese.

The cyber-attacks that have compromised computers at Google and other US technology companies doing business in China have also been aimed at extracting secrets from defence contractors, investigators said yesterday.

Malicious software on machines at companies attacked in the latest blitz sent proprietary data off to six web addresses in Taiwan that had received information from US defence groups before.

The defence companies had been attacked using methods similar to those deployed against nearly three dozen high-tech groups including Google, which went public with the spying matter this week, pointing a finger at the Chinese government.

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The pseudo-coup by the military in Honduras is likely to lead to a trial soon.

Top military chiefs in Honduras have been ordered not to leave the country as they face trial over the ousting of President Manuel Zelaya last June.

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The Iraqis seem to have gotten the hang of of handing out death sentences. Sorry, bad pun.

A Baghdad court on Thursday sentenced 11 Iraqis to death for their roles in the first of a series of audacious attacks last year to target government buildings in the heart of the city.
The August bombings of Iraq's foreign and finance ministries were a major blow to Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is seeking to reassure Iraqis his government has security under control ahead of crucial March elections.
Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council spokesman Abdul-Sattar Bayrkdar said a criminal court in Baghdad's eastern Risafa district found the 11 defendants guilty of financing, planning and participating in the Aug. 19 bombings that devastated the foreign and finance ministries.
The blasts killed more than 100 people.

By: Brant