(ANSA) – MILAN, JULY 1 – Italy, with its NATO Rapid Reaction Command (Nrdc-Ita) and multinational with operational headquarters in Solbiate Olona (Varese), is now the headquarters of the new NATO reaction force, namely the ARF, Allied Reaction Force. This is an expansion of the Alliance’s operational intervention structure, born from a political decision within the NATO summit in Vilinius 2023, with the objective for the Alliance to increase its capacity for deterrence and defense, prevention and management of the crisis, cooperative security. The new operational structure will see an increase in the number of soldiers, which will reach 300 thousand units, in addition to vehicles and technologies, a change made necessary following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
The new command will make use of the ‘1st UK division’, the ‘Spanish Special Operations Command’, the ‘NATO Naval Striking and Support Forces’, the Italian Maritime Forces Command, the NATO Space Center and the NATO Cyber Operation Centre. The entry into force of the new ARF operational structure was celebrated today inside the NATO base of Solbiate Olona, with the participation of the highest military authority in Europe, General Christopher G. Cavoli, of the Army Chief of Staff (in representation of the Chief of Defense Staff), Army Corps General Carmine Masiello. During the ceremony the commander of the NATO base, Army Corps General Lorenzo D’Addario, officially assumed command of the ARF. Academic studies and specific training have been carried out on the operations of the NATO command, including the ‘Steadfast Deterrence 24’, last May in Norway. Further exercises have already been planned for the next two years. “The process of building the new defense capacity is completed, linked to what happened in Ukraine in the last two years – said the Chief of Staff of the Army Carmine Masiello – Italy was chosen as the headquarters that can be deployed in areas of crisis”. “The creation of this force – declared General Cavoli – represents one of the major steps forward in the journey that NATO has undertaken to defend every single centimeter of the Alliance’s territory. (ANSA). .
