The Italian Air Force participates in the JOINT STARS 2022/23 (JOST) Exercise, the most important inter-force and inter-agency training event in the Defense, employing its personnel in the structures of the Joint Force Air Component (JFAC) of the Aerospace Operations Command (COA) of Poggio Renatico (FE).
JOST 22/23 is an exercise ordered by the Chief of Defence Staff and planned by the Joint Top Operational Command (COVI).
In this first phase of JOST 22/23, which began last December and ended on 27 January, a Command Post EXercise (CPX) type activity was developed, aimed at interoperability and training of units and assets of the national Armed Forces and of different articulations within the Operational Planning process for the conduct of an inter-force and multinational operation in compliance with art. 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which establishes the principle of collective defense in the event of aggression against one of the allied countries.
The purpose of the exercise is to verify the planning capabilities of a national joint staff for an operation to defend airspace, land and sea, cyber and space security, defense against chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear contamination and counter threats deriving from emerging technologies.
The planning activity related to the Air and Space Domain, in support of the plan developed at Joint level, was conducted by Air Division General Claudio Gabellini as Commander of the Joint Force Air Component (JFAC) – command and control structure of the Italian Air Force activated within the Aerospace Operations Command – which made use of an Air Operation Planning Group (AOPG) composed of about 50 industry experts, supported by other personnel in training, and who have always been in close coordination with additional units of the Armed Forces located in the Air Component Coordination Element (ACCE) of the Army Simulation and Validation Center (CeSiVa) in Civitavecchia.
This training process is preparatory to the achievement, in 2025, of the NATO certification of the ITA-JFAC as a national command in NATO Response Force (NRF) readiness.
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