Royal Carabinieri Air Service (Kingdom of Italy)

Royal Carabinieri Air Service
Servizio Aereo dei Carabinieri Reali
Active	1971 - present
Country	Kingdom of Italy
Branch	Royal Carabinieri
Role	Air police service
Size	4,700
Part of	Royal Carabinieri Operations Command
Garrison/HQ	Pratica di Mare Airport
Commanders
Current commander	Brigade General Pietro Boninfante

The Royal Carabinieri Air Service (Italian: Servizio Aereo dei Reali Carabinieri, S.A.R.C.) is the Royal Carabinieri command which provides air support to all operations of the Royal Carabinieri (both police-related and tactical ones).

Mission

Air power is functional for man-hunting, mopping-up, blocking, searching for fugitives, escapees, robbers, kidnappers, and missing persons, allowing the identification of locations and objectives of interest, allowing pollution control and execution of control over compliance with special laws. In public order services, air power allows the sighting and signaling of mass movements or groups on the ground, allows video shooting, contributes to safety stock and road traffic control. Helicopters provide the element through which the areas affected by major disasters are surveyed, including search and rescue on land or water surfaces (in cooperation or not with other relief units) and interventions in favor of populations affected by natural disasters or other special circumstances. The operational transport of dogs, divers, paratroopers, other units, special purpose units, personnel of the Arma for service reasons and rescue teams is also carried out by helicopter, as well as that of various materials, medicines, food and supplies in general. Finally, air power is essential in special police operations, in objective re-acquisition operations, in hostage release operations, in operations aimed at preventing the commission of offenses, as well as in high-risk capture operations and in stocks of personalities. of importance.

Operational activities of the Aircraft Group consist of aerial reconnaissance missions, air support and medical aid. The mission is intended to support the needs of Territorial and Special Units.

Among the tasks assigned are the control of the road arteries, the air rescue and recovery activities at sea or in the mountains and the control of the national territory to ensure public order and safety.

The air component integrates with the ground units, for which it ensures a wide range of interventions: from the aid for the identification of fleeing cars or people in difficulty to the transport of special units and counter-guerrilla battalions, to the monitoring of services of public order through the transmission of images with the shooting systems supplied, to the support of the specialized departments of the Royal Carabinieri in the fight against environmental crimes and in any other possible activity.

The Air Service also supports the units of the Paratroopers in the aviation activity of maintaining operational capacity and carries out support and transport services in training and operational activities.

Purposes of the services provided are aimed at avoiding the exploitation of state-owned areas, at the correct conduct of commercial activities, against human trafficking, illegal immigration and international drug trafficking.

Training

The Air Service counts on 1708 units of flight personnel (one third of which pilots and the remainder specialists).

The specialized military are divided into:

• pilots,
• specialists,
• system operators.

The training process for specialized soldiers also starts with their incorporation into the Royal Carabinieri, continues with a psychophysical selection of candidates.

The basic preparation of candidate helicopter pilots is carried out at the 72nd Wing of the Air Force in Frosinone where the pilot's license for a military helicopter is obtained. For fixed-wing aircraft, training starts from Latina, at the 70th wing of the Air Force and at the Air Force Academy of Pozzuoli.

As for the specialists, they are trained at the Royal Palace of Caserta at the Subofficers School of the Air Force.

The training continues at the Training Centre in Pratica di Mare. The training expands, develops and improves continuously with different courses to be done in the appropriate centres.

Organization

The Air Service includes all Carabinieri, aircraft, equipment, technical support and logistic facilities, whose primary function is to complement and enhance preventive action and control of land developed by the departments operating on the ground. The Air Service is led by a Brigade General and is divided into:

• Air Service Command with administrative, training, supervisory, logistical and technical advice tasks; the Command directly supports subordinate units:
  • Training Centre;
  • Logistics Group;
• 29 Flight Units, homogeneously decentralized on national territory in order to ensure a timely intervention;
• 3 Tactical Flight Units, in order to support CC.RR. Paratroopers.

Flight Units operate according the technical directives issued by the Air Service Command and according the operational requirements of the various territorial commands. All Flight Units are connected to the "Situation Room" of the Command through a dedicated communication network on a national scale, which monitors the movement of individual aircraft and allows their management.

Air Group "NORD"

The Air Group "NORD" is based in Milan and directs all Flight Units deployed in Northern Italy.

• 1st Flight Unit Volpiano (TO)
• 2nd Flight Unit Bergamo-Orio al Serio
• 3rd Flight Unit Milano-Malpensa
• 4th Flight Unit Bolzano
• 5th Flight Unit Venezia-Tessera
• 6th Flight Unit Belluno
• 7th Flight Unit Villanova d'Albenga (SV)
• 8th Flight Unit Genoa
• 9th Flight Unit Rimini
• 10th Flight Unit Forlì
• 11th Flight Unit Bologna
• 12th Flight Unit Venegono Superiore (VA)
• 32nd Tactical Flight Unit Pavia: support to CC.RR. Paratroopers

Air Group "CENTRO"

The Air Group "CENTRO" is based in Pratica di Mare and directs all Flight Units deployed in Central Italy, including Sardinia and Corsica.

• 13th Flight Unit Pratica di Mare
• 14th Flight Unit Rome
• 15th Flight Unit Pescara
• 16th Reparto volo-Aeroporto di Oristano-Fenosu
• 17th Flight Unit Cagliari-Elmas
• 18th Flight Unit Olbia-Venafiorita (SS)
• 19th Flight Unit Firenze
• 20th Flight Unit Pisa-SanGiusto
• 21st Flight Unit Rieti
• 30th Tactical Flight Unit Pisa: support to CC.RR. Paratroopers

Air Group "SUD"

The Air Group "SUD" is based in Naples and directs all Flight Units deployed in Southern Italy, including Sicily. 22nd Flight Unit Catania-Fontanarossa 23rd Flight Unit Palermo-Boccadifalco 24th Flight Unit Napoli-Capodichino 25th Flight Unit Salerno-Pontecagnano 26th Flight Unit Bari-Palese 27th Flight Unit Vibo Valentia 28th Flight Unit Lamezia Terme 29th Flight Unit Reggio Calabria 31st Tactical Flight Unit Naples: support to CC.RR. Paratroopers

Air fleet

• 28 x Agusta Bell 206
• 23 x Agusta Bell 212
• 71 x AgustaWestland AW109
• 31 x AgustaWestland AW139
• 22 x Breda Nardi NH 500
• 13 x AgustaWestland AW169
• 38 x Agusta-Bell AB-412
• 18 x Partenavia P.68
• 7 x Piaggio P180 Avanti
• 4 x Alenia ATR-42MP
• 4 x Leonardo Velivoli ATR 72MP
• 1 x Alenia ATR-72
• 1 x Alenia ATR-42MP