Italian aircraft carrier battle group to participate in Australian war games and visit Philippines | The Mighty 790 KFGO

By Kirsty Needham

DARWIN, Australia (Reuters) – An Italian carrier battle group will sail through the South China Sea to the Philippines on its first deployment in the Indo-Pacific region after taking part in war games with U.S. allies in Australia, a senior Italian naval official said on Thursday.

The measures come against a backdrop of growing tensions between China and some of its neighbors in the disputed South China Sea region. About 40 percent of Europe’s foreign trade flows through the South China Sea, where the United States, Japan, Australia and other countries have held joint naval exercises to protect what they say is freedom of navigation. China claims almost the entire strategic waterway.

The Italian aircraft carrier Cavour is in the northern Australian city of Darwin this week taking part in Exercise Pitch Black, in which Italy is contributing nearly two dozen fighter jets to the exercises involving 20 nations including host Australia.

The USA, Great Britain, Japan, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea are also participating.

It is the first time that an aircraft carrier has taken part in the exercises, said Rear Admiral Giancarlo Ciappina of the Italian Navy.

Twenty-three Italian jets, including eight stealth F-35Bs, are practicing air combat, strikes and other operations alongside their allies over vast stretches of largely uninhabited land in northern Australia.

“Pitch Black gives us the opportunity to work shoulder-to-shoulder with the key F-35 communities,” said Capt. Dario Castelli, the battle group’s carrier squadron commander. “Because we are stationed so far from home, it is also an incredible logistical exercise for us.”

After completing the current exercises on August 2, the 1,200-strong Italian carrier battle group will travel to the US Pacific region of Guam and Japan before sailing through the South China Sea toward the Philippines for the first time, Ciappina said.

“VERY POWERFUL TOOL”

Ciappina said his strike group did not plan to conduct freedom of navigation operations.

The Cavour will carry out humanitarian work in the Philippines and perform operations on children in the ship’s hospital in the port of Manila, he said.

“An aircraft carrier – just its presence somewhere has an effect, it can have an influence. It is a very powerful tool,” said Ciappina.

Manila and Beijing have repeatedly clashed over jurisdiction as the Philippines challenges China’s permanent presence at strategic points within Manila’s exclusive economic zone.

Ciappina said the Italian Navy’s first deployment to the Indo-Pacific had improved its training and led to a better understanding of the region.

Although the deployment is not a NATO initiative, Italy has coordinated with the French Navy and the British Royal Navy, which will send ships to the region later this year to ensure that sufficient capacity remains available in the Mediterranean, he said.

“Everything is connected… that’s why we now have to be present in the Pacific,” he said.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham. Editing by Gerry Doyle and Gareth Jones)