«When the drone reached 4 miles I made the decision . I had to defend my crew and my ship ." Thus Andrea Quondamatteo , 47 years old, commander of the Caio Duilio attacked by the Houthis, who in an interview with Corriere della Sera recounted the excited moments in which he was in command of his ship, under the threat of the drone whose objective was precisely the jewel ship of the Navy, made the decision to shoot it down. Thus saving the vessel and its crew.
«We were patrolling to the south, in the stretch facing the Yemeni coast, in international waters. Suddenly an unknown 'radar echo' arrived, the signal was 8 miles away. A moving profile, at low altitude and rapidly approaching ", explains Quondamattaeo.
«First we sent him warning calls – he continues – inviting him to change course». But nothing. Then the decision to tear it down .
" The cannon on the starboard bow fired 6 shots, after a few seconds the optical evaluation confirmed the shooting ," he continues.
«Nave Duilio reacted in self-defense », the clarification. «When the commanders of the Jolly Rosa and the Grande Baltimore, Italian ships, wrote to me to thank me, I was moved».
In the meantime, we are waiting for Tuesday, when parliament will vote on the resolution that will finally allow the new European Aspides mission launched by Brussels to be launched a week ago .
Time is running out and the threats from the Yemeni rebels are multiplying by the hour . This time the terrorists are targeting not only American or British vessels, but also European ones.
«15% of global trade passes through the Red Sea - the words of the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni - we must remain focused on a quadrant that is crucial for our national and commercial interests ». Precisely for this reason the Minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto, relaunches the idea of a common defense, to "make different systems communicate in order to integrate them".
Aspides, the "shield" - as the Greek word indicates - against terrorist attacks will be added in a few days to the European mission Atalanta, which has been monitoring the area against Somali piracy for years and which has been under Italian command for three weeks. . The operational base will be right on the Caio Duilio, the Navy destroyer that intercepted and shot down the Houthi drone in recent hours. In command, however, there will be Rear Admiral Stefano Costantino, already on board the Duilio and ready to lead the European fleet, which is also already deployed in the area.
(Unioneonline/vl)