ROME - The Italian Army intends to mount IED-inhibiting technology on every Italian vehicle in Afghanistan by 2012 to fulfill the service's top priority - troop safety."All our attention is on Afghanistan, where individual safety is fundamental," said Gen. Giuseppe Valotto, who was appointed Italy's top Army official in 2009.
Last year in Afghanistan, the Army started mounting the Guardian IED jamming system on its LMV Lince vehicles, which have been likened to up-armored Humvees. Now the system is being placed on Italy's larger Freccia vehicles. Seventeen of the eight-wheeled, 26-ton armored vehicles were dispatched to Afghanistan last year and are based in Shindad.
The Guardian, built in the U.K. by Finmeccanica unit Selex Communications for use in vehicles and by foot soldiers, jams signals used to detonate IEDs and can be programmed to operate on various bandwidths and levels of intensity.
"We have nearly 200 and are buying more to put one on every vehicle," said Valotto. "We hope to conclude the purchase this year or during 2012, the resources are there."
Valotto said the system in use offered a "bubble" of protection 60-70 meters across, allowing one in every two convoy vehicles to be kitted out. The system, he added, works at the low frequencies used by garage door remote controls, as well as the high frequencies used to send cellphone text messages.
"The British collaborated at the start, supplying the threat library," he said. "Each system consists of a vehicle-borne element and a man-portable element used by soldiers who need to dismount to remove IEDs."
Industry officials integrating the system in Afghanistan have shifted antennae for greater effectiveness and are tackling overheating issues, Valotto said.
Italy is meanwhile planning to buy an upgraded version of the LMV, known as version 1A, which will provide greater electrical power for systems, including jammers.
"At the start, with other U.S. and British systems we used, the signal would be interrupted when we turned on the radio, but not with this system," Valotto said.
Valotto, who ran Italy's military interforce command in Rome for a year before his appointment to lead the Army, said the purchase of Guardian systems was part of his drive to increase troop safety in Afghanistan, where Italy has suffered losses from IEDs.
"We are looking to new sensors, UAVs and protected vehicles to carry out the mission, but above all, safeguard the soldier," he said.
After the deaths of soldiers traveling in Lince vehicles, Italy last year dispatched 17 Freccias to Afghanistan, just months after they were delivered by joint manufacturers Italian firms Oto Melara and Iveco.
The vehicles have been involved in firefights with insurgents but have not been hit by an IED explosion, "possibly because they have served as a deterrent so far," said one Army source.
With industry officials on hand at a dedicated hangar in Shindand, the Freccias have been operated by three different regimental companies rotated in to gain experience, while upgrades have also been made.
"There have been small changes," said Valotto. "We have increased the cooling for the Guardian, which was built to handle a maximum temperature of 40 centigrade, but out there we get up to 45-50 centigrade."
Sending the closed-hull Freccia out to patrol alongside the Lince has coincided with the installing of remote gun turrets on the roofs of the Linces, replacing the gunner who stood in a hatch and was vulnerable if the vehicle overturned. Both measures risk distancing Italian troops from the local residents they are seeking to build trust with, but Valotto said the soldiers would have plenty of other occasions to push dialogue.
The so-called Italian way of peacekeeping in Afghanistan is based on "the capability to dialogue with local populations," he said. "Our soldiers respect customs, traditions and religions and talk to people," he said, "it is an incredible resource that helps achieve the mission."
Separately, Italy's Mangusta attack helicopters, which form a purely offensive part of the Italian mission in Afghanistan, are soon to be equipped with the Spike missile, which is also being purchased for mounting on Lince and Freccia vehicles.
Also being integrated on the Mangustas is the Rafael Toplite targeting system, which will provide targeting information to the missile. But a defense source said that recent flight trials in Italy had paved the way for further uses of the Toplite.
"Italy requested that the Toplite also provide laser targeting for other aircraft, as well as registering laser targets painted by other aircraft. In the recent tests, an Italian AMX fighter bomber dropped a GBU munition on a target designated by a Mangusta," he said.
Last year in Afghanistan, the Army started mounting the Guardian IED jamming system on its LMV Lince vehicles, which have been likened to up-armored Humvees. Now the system is being placed on Italy's larger Freccia vehicles. Seventeen of the eight-wheeled, 26-ton armored vehicles were dispatched to Afghanistan last year and are based in Shindad.
The Guardian, built in the U.K. by Finmeccanica unit Selex Communications for use in vehicles and by foot soldiers, jams signals used to detonate IEDs and can be programmed to operate on various bandwidths and levels of intensity.
"We have nearly 200 and are buying more to put one on every vehicle," said Valotto. "We hope to conclude the purchase this year or during 2012, the resources are there."
Valotto said the system in use offered a "bubble" of protection 60-70 meters across, allowing one in every two convoy vehicles to be kitted out. The system, he added, works at the low frequencies used by garage door remote controls, as well as the high frequencies used to send cellphone text messages.
"The British collaborated at the start, supplying the threat library," he said. "Each system consists of a vehicle-borne element and a man-portable element used by soldiers who need to dismount to remove IEDs."
Industry officials integrating the system in Afghanistan have shifted antennae for greater effectiveness and are tackling overheating issues, Valotto said.
Italy is meanwhile planning to buy an upgraded version of the LMV, known as version 1A, which will provide greater electrical power for systems, including jammers.
"At the start, with other U.S. and British systems we used, the signal would be interrupted when we turned on the radio, but not with this system," Valotto said.
Valotto, who ran Italy's military interforce command in Rome for a year before his appointment to lead the Army, said the purchase of Guardian systems was part of his drive to increase troop safety in Afghanistan, where Italy has suffered losses from IEDs.
"We are looking to new sensors, UAVs and protected vehicles to carry out the mission, but above all, safeguard the soldier," he said.
After the deaths of soldiers traveling in Lince vehicles, Italy last year dispatched 17 Freccias to Afghanistan, just months after they were delivered by joint manufacturers Italian firms Oto Melara and Iveco.
The vehicles have been involved in firefights with insurgents but have not been hit by an IED explosion, "possibly because they have served as a deterrent so far," said one Army source.
With industry officials on hand at a dedicated hangar in Shindand, the Freccias have been operated by three different regimental companies rotated in to gain experience, while upgrades have also been made.
"There have been small changes," said Valotto. "We have increased the cooling for the Guardian, which was built to handle a maximum temperature of 40 centigrade, but out there we get up to 45-50 centigrade."
Sending the closed-hull Freccia out to patrol alongside the Lince has coincided with the installing of remote gun turrets on the roofs of the Linces, replacing the gunner who stood in a hatch and was vulnerable if the vehicle overturned. Both measures risk distancing Italian troops from the local residents they are seeking to build trust with, but Valotto said the soldiers would have plenty of other occasions to push dialogue.
The so-called Italian way of peacekeeping in Afghanistan is based on "the capability to dialogue with local populations," he said. "Our soldiers respect customs, traditions and religions and talk to people," he said, "it is an incredible resource that helps achieve the mission."
Separately, Italy's Mangusta attack helicopters, which form a purely offensive part of the Italian mission in Afghanistan, are soon to be equipped with the Spike missile, which is also being purchased for mounting on Lince and Freccia vehicles.
Also being integrated on the Mangustas is the Rafael Toplite targeting system, which will provide targeting information to the missile. But a defense source said that recent flight trials in Italy had paved the way for further uses of the Toplite.
"Italy requested that the Toplite also provide laser targeting for other aircraft, as well as registering laser targets painted by other aircraft. In the recent tests, an Italian AMX fighter bomber dropped a GBU munition on a target designated by a Mangusta," he said.
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