the commander of Aspides – speaks

A ship of the European fleet, a French frigate, has intercepted ballistic missiles coming from Yemen, for the first time since the clashes and tensions in the Red Sea with the Houthis began. This can be read from profile The operational commander of the mission granted an interview to Il Giornale and, on board the Caio Duilio, tried to answer all the questions on the tensions that are bringing a crucial area for exchanges to its knees and on the possible scenarios.

“Our commitment has progressively increased in terms of safeguarding freedom of navigation and protection of maritime traffic. In addition to Nave Duilio, headquarters of the tactical command at sea, other naval units from France, Germany and Greece are part of the EU Maritime Force “Faced with an increase in the request for support from the companies, to date, we have guaranteed close protection to 38 merchant ships”: this is the update from Rear Admiral Stefano Costantino. When asked about possible contributions other than naval ones, the commander replied: “The contribution of land-based air assets is also envisaged, to complement the embarked ones, which will be able to contribute to the monitoring and surveillance of the area of ​​operation”.

A question also concerned the methods with which Caio Duilio protects ships. “In addition to sharing useful information and providing advice on the procedures to be adopted to mitigate the level of risk, we patrol near the most critical maritime communications routes. When necessary we sail alongside merchant ships, guaranteeing an umbrella of protection with our systems defense”, reported Stefano Costantino.