Naval Air Station Sigonella

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The military airfield Sigonella is located about 16 km west of Catania, Sicily, on the territory of the municipality of Motta Santa Anastasia, near the village of Sigonella. The airfield is home to a base of the U.S. Navy (NAS Sigonella, The Hub of the Med ) and a base for the Italian Air Force ( 41 ° Stormo, Maritime Patrol ).

Naval Air Station Sigonella

Located in the northwest part of the American airfield has two options: the outlying area NAS I are staff and administrative buildings, schools, a hospital, a radio station and part of the accommodation for soldiers and their families. In addition, there is some distance away two more settlements ( Mineo and Marinai ) with associated social facilities. NAS II forms the actual military base. Because of the highly strategic location in central Mediterranean, it serves not only the U.S. 6th Fleet as a major naval air base, but the entire U.S. armed forces as a transport and logistics hub for operations in the Middle East and the Indian Ocean. In addition to the P-3C Orion U.S. Navy airfield especially of transport aircraft of the U.S. Air Force is used. The Defense Logistics Agency maintains in the NAS II a depot, which is the largest U.S. supply center in the Mediterranean to Camp Darby. More than 40 other U.S. military facilities there are in and around Sigonella, where a total of about 4,000 American soldiers live with their relatives.

41 ° Stormo

In the northeast is the Italian part of the airbase. The Italian Air Force maintains there a Seefernaufklärungsgeschwader (41 ° Stormo ), which is equipped with Breguet Atlantic aircraft type, but are under the operational control of the Italian Navy and have mixed crews. To this association also includes a maintenance and training center. As outworked base the squadron serves the military part of the airport Cagliari, on the formerly another Italian Seefernaufklärungsverband (30 ° Stormo ) was whose aircraft were relocated a few years ago after Sigonella and then placed partially out of service.

Alliance Ground Surveillance

NATO will set up at the military airfield Sigonella the Main Operating Base for their reconnaissance system Alliance Ground Surveillance. It is based on the Global Hawk drone. The first concrete step towards the realization of this project took place in February 2009.

History

In the early 1950 years it became apparent that a further expansion of U.S. facilities in Hal -Far on Malta would not be possible, the U.S. Navy and NATO turned to Italy with a request to establish a Naval Air Station in Sicily. In the summer of 1957, the Italian government donated land in the plain of Catania, close to the airport Fontana Rossa available. Two years later, the operations could be included in Sigonella. Mid-1959 a tidal wave damaged several facilities of the base. Flight operations had to be moved for a short time after Fontana Rossa. There was an Italian reconnaissance unit S-2 Tracker, which later moved slightly to Sigonella. For the commissioning of the Atlanic - Maritime Patrol Aircraft in 1972, the Italian part of the airfield was expanded Sigonella, which then housed the entire 41st Squadron of the Italian Air Force.

In 1985, at Sigonella after the hijacking of the Achille Lauro to a critical confrontation between members of an American Special Forces on the one hand, and soldiers of the Italian Air Force and Carabinieri on the other side. Both sides intended thereby to arrest the kidnappers, who had been forced into their aircraft by U.S. combat aircraft to land at the base. The situation eased only after about five hours when the U.S. unit withdrew.

In December 2005 the base was moved from another tidal wave hit. Appropriate building security measures have subsequently prevents further occurrences of this nature. On November 5, 2012 Sigonella took over for four weeks to commercial air traffic from Catania Fontana Rossa - because there had to be renewed, the start and runway.