It weighs just a couple of kilos and can be pushed up to ten kilometres away from the launch base. This is the Raven, a remotely piloted aircraft, which is used by the Army to 'map' the areas at greatest risk of 'land of fires'.
Spring has just arrived and the emergency has returned on time: last night on the outskirts of Giugliano there were two large fires of waste that as always poisoned the air. But from June the Army will use a more performing device that will have to be launched with a catapult because it is heavier. What happens on the ground is difficult to escape the eye of the drone that flies at a height that makes it almost invisible from the ground. From above, without being noticed, it is possible to ascertain where the abandonment of waste is taking place and where, if anything, it has already occurred.
It happened recently in Giugliano when the Raven, which was flying over the town in the province of Naples, filmed a van that was unloading waste in a country lane. The vehicle was then reached, within a few minutes, by the patrols present in the area. But not only that. From above the Raven, as explained by Captain Alessandro Giampietro, who commands the company deployed in the province of Naples, provides all the useful elements to carry out the checks.
The first alarm signal is that of 'anomalous' accumulation. So even companies or simple homes end up being sifted. But lights are also turned on on paths or country roads where very often the waste ends up being burned. The first alarm is with the presence of used tires or piles of old rags. They are the material useful for forming the "bed" of combustion. At the moment the men of the I Bersaglieri Regiment of Cosenza, commanded by Colonel Francesco Ferrara, are involved in the "Land of Fires" operation (together with the "Safe Roads" operation).
It is one of the regiments under the command of the Bersaglieri Garibaldi Brigade of Caserta. The flight of the drones is managed by the 41st Imint Regiment “Cordenons” of Sora. A platoon of this unit is located in Campania. Before and after the launches, a group of specialists, with Lieutenant Mario Scalena, ensures that everything is in order. And from above the drone takes photographs, sending the position on which to intervene to the patrols located on the ground.
Article published on March 25, 2023 - 12pm
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