What if the enemy destroys its own satellite to damage those of its allies? How do you react in the event of a cyber attack that causes a train to derail?

The organizers of Joint Stars 2025, the maxi inter-force, inter-agency and multi-domain exercise of the Italian Defense, planned and conducted by the Joint Operations Command (Covi) currently underway in the Sardinian shooting ranges, asked themselves these questions.

The answers are the training operations carried out in the Capo Teulada shooting range.

The next phase consists of simulations of an armed conflict, in which the Army, Air Force and Navy will take part. In the current one, other national bodies also participate.

The activities focus on scenarios characterized by hybrid threats, typical of pre-conflict conditions. The Network Operations Command (Cor) simulated cyber attacks with "Distributed Denial of Service" (DDoS) which, as stated in a note, «caused the interruption of essential services (energy, banking and transport)». These attacks «caused the simulated derailment of a train, for which it was necessary to request the intervention of the Armed Forces, the National Department of Firefighters and the Military Corps of the Italian Red Cross, for the management of the complex emergency, the securing of the area and the rescue of the injured».

The Joint Stars aims to test the Defense response capabilities also in the space domain. A scenario was simulated in which "a hostile power destroyed its own obsolete satellite to generate space debris dangerous for other satellite communications networks. Specialists from the Space Operations Command (Cos) then went into action, carrying out timely maneuvers of a national satellite specifically to avoid the (simulated) collision with orbital debris, safeguarding satellite communications of operational units on the ground".

The exercise has now entered its second phase, with training activities that will see the Army, Navy and Air Force mainly engaged in warfighting activities: « It is also a test bed for the integration of operations in the cyber and space domains, reflecting the evolution of the threat and the need for a coordinated and integrated response».

(Unioneonline/E.Fr.)

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