​The Italian Carrier Strike Group, during its first operational deployment to the Indo-Pacific, conducted a two-day exercise in the waters of the Indian Ocean with one of the two aircraft carriers of the Indian Navy, INS Vikramaditya with its air wing MIG-29K, Rafale and AWACS of the “Black Panther" Squadron. Participating assets included destroyer Visakhapatnam and aircraft Su-30MKI of the Indian Air Force.

Exercises – planned in detail before leaving the port of Mormugao, in the Indian Goa state, and marked by crew exchange and key leader engagement (KLE) activities -  included Air Defence (ADEX), gunnery (GUNEX) and cross-deck exercises, as well as close kinematic manoeuvres and CIC and bridge activities.

A very fruitful experience for the pilots of the Italian Navy Carrier Air Wing embarked onboard aircraft carrier Cavour, including pilots from the 3nd Wing of the Italian Air Force operating 2 F-35B aircraft.

The flying activities involved aircraft with very different characteristics. Such exercises enable real-world comparisons between diverse platforms and tactics, including those outside NATO standards, fostering development and improvement. They also offer a critical opportunity to test current procedures.

This training opportunity, fully integrated into the partnership between Italy and India, has once again demonstrated the Italian Carrier Strike Group's outstanding interoperability capabilities.

Such distinctly multinational and joint activities represent an excellent training opportunity for the crews of the Italian Naval Fleet, which is simultaneously and daily present, with its ships, in the world's oceans.

It has been a privilege to train and cooperate with the Indian Navy – said IT CSG commander Rear Admiral Giancarlo Ciappina, onboard aircraft carrier Cavour - a valuable opportunity to boost our interoperability with key partners, as already done in other interactions carried out in recent months. We have strengthened cooperation to guarantee the security of international spaces and freedom of navigation and consolidated the joint and multi-national expeditionary sea-based capability, with particular reference to the logistic support capabilities for complex air and naval task forces in operational theatres far from the usual areas of operations.

Look at the video: Dual Carrier Operations per l'Italian Carrier Strike Group con la Marina Indiana - YouTube