Airforces

32 // FEBRUARY 2018 #359 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

Exercise

Report Joint Stars 2017

oint Stars 2017 (JS17)

was organised by the

Comando Operativo

di vertice Interforze (COI, Joint

Operations Command) of the Italian

defence ministry. The exercise

consisted of interconnected

manoeuvres (Lampo, led by the

army; the navy’s Mare Aperto; and

the air force’s Vega). JS17 was

conducted between June and

October in Sicily, Sardinia and

southern-central Italy. Throughout

it, a single fictitious scenario

presented the players with a crisis

context between two countries.

A NATO component also took part

in Joint Stars, the alliance providing

assets dedicated to cyber warfare

training, among them radar and

communications jammers.

The first phase of JS17, named

Virtual Flag 2017, focused on

the planning processes for

air operations in the context

of foreign peacekeeping

campaigns. This was conducted

in June by the Aeronautica

Militare (Italian Air Force) at

the Poggio Renatico Italian Air

Operations Centre (ITA-AOC).

The second part of JS17 began on

September 25 as a command post

exercise (CPX), before continuing

as a live exercise (LIVEX) from

October 16 to 27. At this point,

the training was no longer run

on a purely virtual and simulated

level, but also encompassed real

events, including air operations.

Star wars

J

F-2000A MM7300 ‘4-44’ accompanies
MM7339 ‘4-61’ as they formate
on a KC-767A high over the
Mediterranean. The Typhoons from
Grosseto-based 4º Stormo were part
of the Blue Air contingent fl ying from
Trapani in Sicily. All photos Giovanni
Colla and Remo Guidi unless stated

An HH-101A comes in to land as

part of a personnel recovery mission

during Exercise Vega, the Italian

Air Force component of Joint Stars

2017. Three different air force
      helicopter types operated from
      Decimomannu: HH-101As, HH-139As
      and HH-212As. Italian MoD