SoaASED AT Pctica di Mare iil, ots Rome, aly, 71° Gruppo is one of two squadrons assigned tothe alan A Force (Aeronautica Mitare talana) 14° Store (Wing) ‘Sergio Sarto” resident here since June 1, 1976. Operating with 8° Gruppo, he two uns share an area ofthe alld that stretches ior over almete and compres thee large apros Changing Roles The ares allocated to the 71° Gruppo retains a Somewhat dated look teminiscent of the Cold War era ~ a legacy of the electronic warfare role the squadron undertook until 2003 when the last Piaggio PO.ROBGE was retired. To keep prying ees away, the old-style hangars and buildings were placed inside a restricted zone isolating the area rom the rest of the base. However, today the gates to taxiway 1 and to the main entrance are 1 langer guarded by armed personnel and remain peremialy wide open, signaling the transformation in the unit’ role. Today's 71° Gruppo is a mult ‘unctional unit, Undertaking transportation, aerial ‘Photography and radio calibration misions. It has ‘completed the long (and paint) conversion from a CGuera Elettronica (GE, electronic warfare) unit into 2 general purpose squadron, This proces began on june 30, 2000, when the <ésbanded 303° Gruppo ftom Cuidonia was annexed, and ended on May 17,2003, withthe as fight ofthe PD.BOBGE, which abo marked the end of a dedicated aan-buit platform forthe electronic warfare mission, With the retirement ofthe PD.B08, the unit lost a role which had determined is tasks, procedures and coxganisaton for around 30 years, resuting inthe concurentacquiston of rew tasks, staff and aircraft In order to ran a modicum of “hands-on experience in dectronic warfare techniques, some ofthe squadkon sonnel were wandered to 2 new unt, the Reparto Supporto Tecnico Operativo Guerra Elettronica (RESTOGE, Electronic Warfare Operative Technical Support uni) is mission is to develop a new concept ‘The plot of on MB.339C0 of the 71° Gruppo dscases the arcrat withthe ground crew during the pre igh Inspection °s12 eco" Mo) Glen Merlo Maras, commander of 1° Gropp Inti office ot Prtia at Mare. Maj Maras lod 80 iltary personnel, haf of them plots 20 cnc" for electronic waar wig el protection pods, stead of deleted asets, forthe eectronic support of aca cages New Tasks Those who remained with 71° Gruppo began working with the new aircraft and qualfied in the new role, The latest incamation of 71° Gruppo has 80 personnel, around half of them pilots. It fies three types of aircraft, the Aermacchi MB339CD, the Piaggio P1660L3 and Piaggio P.180 Avant, although the two ets are oficial loaned tothe unit ‘rom 36" Stormo at Giola del Cole and canseque retain the '36-' codes. On average, the Gruppo fies 5,000 hours every year. As Major Gian Mario Maras, its commander, told AFM “is main task is transportation, wich i provided mainly by P180s. ‘This accounts for 75-809 ofthe squadron's anova missions and supports not oly the Malian At Force but also the other Italian armed corps, NATO and the talan Government, the latter being one of our main customers. From this year, we have aso been providing medical fights on a 24chour stand-by bass using 2 P180, Flight Aid Checking [nother important mission for the squadron is checking navigational ads used by military airbases and by civilian airports used by the military. Though this accounts for far fewer fight hours than the transport role, it invohes all thee of the types the unit has on strength. The rale involves the calibration and periodic verification of PAR) GCA (Precision Approach Radar/Ground Contoled Approach) and IOP (Indicator! Otici di Planata, ‘Approach Optical Indicators), such as VAS (Visual ‘Approach Slope Indicator), PAI (Precson Approach Path Indicator) or A-PAPI (Abbreviated PAPI), Calibration flights are needed every time a new system has been installed, of when an existing system has been repaired or substantially mode Periodic checks aim to verily thatthe system is working as required, and are undertaken every 180, ays forthe GCA and every 150 forthe IOP systems ‘An in-ight check ofa PAR system involves checking the functionality of two types of glide paths, usvally set to 3° and 25°. During the process, the radar’ primary and backup aerial ae verified, as wel as the U/VHF radio equipment needed to maintain bilateral radio contact with the controle. Periodic checks of the glide path are carried out while the aircraft executes a seis of val patterns under the contol ofthe GCA operators, who follow the fight con the radar. Every time the aircraft travels a quater ofa mie, they either broadcast the message ‘top Gt the system is within the accepted tolerances) or Show how frit has deviated fromthe correct path Ifthe purpose of the fight is to callrate the system, the check takes longer as it aso requires the determination of distances from any obstacles jn the approach and the validation of radar m8 230 sanuary 39coverage for the entre track. 1OP checks are even ee the runway with atheodolt, an instrument which ere eee neo ey pee eer et es Straight-in approaches from a postion $ nautical miles (9.2km) from the runway’ threshold, and Pee eee ee ero ee eae a eee ee eres nr ors with an ILS or MLS), the system is declared ‘hable if not, the inaccuracy is reported to the ARO Core erin ae Rees NOTAM (Notice to Amen), The minimum weather Cee eee ee ee Cres re eGo) eter ye kerr Re Ce de eta Pee ent Ray Pee eg Petr a ae Les ket) im service. Ther disappearance means thatthe re ls the role, able to check the diferent kinds of radio aids. In order to overcome the capability gap, the ivan company Vitrocset has been contracted, using sutably-equipped Cessna 650 Citation 1V ree rot arr ry eee ees ee eee nets oe ee enero as eee err ee et es Ce ee ee ed rere nan eee Pee ee mr ee ee re cat rata Panter er aed ee ere ne peer erere a a eeeoa) en ed ‘earance during approaches. A projet to coavert reas eeramnrer Paar ere ae eee ed peer ere men eta ken manele rons ees ee ees Ser lead er Cee eros re prevnee er roe rere ers Ce a ny ed ee ey perenne a’ activites ofthe maintenance crews asigned tothe pert eee Ws Efficiency Squadron) are limited to servicing the ee rs checks, although in the near future they wil arty pr eree e ey Pemeerenrsr ame eter rs parking area, where ten engineers work. Known