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Aviation History
1986
1986 - 1900.PDF
Will the Italian Navy be allowed to operate fixed-wing aircraft from its new carrier? Stefan Geisenheyner examines the arguments. Harriers or no Harriers for the Italian Navy's through-deck cruiser Giuseppe Garibaldi, that is the question which occupies naval analysts and industry in Italy and abroad. The 13,300-ton vessel is easily capable of oper ating ten Harriers, and has in fact been constructed to do just that. Why, then, has a decision to buy Vstol aircraft yet to be taken? The Italian Navy's class-designation of this ship "incrociatore porta-aeromobili" contains the answer. It is a politically inspired, carefully devised designation which indicates nothing and everything. Literally translated, incrociatore porta- aeromobili means "flying-object carrier- cruiser" as opposed to helicopter carrier (porta-elicotteri) or aircraft carrier (porta- aerei). But there is no doubt that the Garibaldi is Italy's first, but very successful attempt to design a modern ship capable of taking fixed-wing aircraft on board. The mean ingless class-designation is the result of a political battle fought between the supporters of sea-going air power and those advocating support of the Navy by land-based aircraft. At the bottom of this controversy, fought with Machiavellian cunning, lies a deep-seated rivalry between the Italian Harriers for Navy and Air Force which originated in the early 1920s. Shortly after the First World War the Italian Navy's long-range planning included the construction of aircraft carriers. This plan was halted in 1920 by the news of the US Army's land- based bombers, led by Billy Mitchell, successfully attacking three obsolete battleships off Cape Hatteras. Consequently the Italian Government passed a law in March of 1923 which placed all winged aircraft under the juris diction of the Air Force, effectively killing any attempt by the Navy to create its own air arm. When, in September of 1923, Mitchell again succeeded in sinking two old battle ships, the very air-minded Mussolini voiced his concept of waging war in the Mediterranean. Strongly supported by the Air Force, he declared that the position of the Italian peninsula made it an unsinkable aircraft carrier, capable of dominating all seas surrounding it. The tragic results of this shortsighted policy in the Second World War are well noted in Italy, but the idea has survived despite the Italian defeat and good sense, and lingers on to this day. Following its mediocre combat performance, which was largely due to an almost total lack of air support, the Italian Navy has fought for an air arm since 1950. However, the law passed in 1923 is still valid, and for years the Air Force has been successful in keeping it in force. To give it some measure of fire-power projection, the Navy settled for the helicopter. That the The McDonnell Douglas/British Aerospace A V-8B Harrier II is on order for the Spanish Navy. Will Italy follow Spain's lead? 34 FLIGHT INTERNA TIONAL, 9 August 1986
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