Short Range Air Defence: Operational and Technological Developments

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated how the evolution of air, missile and artillery threats requires an integrated and multi-layered Short and Very-Short Air Defence. The rapid growth in the use of drones by great and middle powers foreshadows operational scenarios of high-intensity conflicts that will require specific and innovative countermeasures. SHORAD and V-SHORAD represent a pivotal element of Italy’s defence, both for homeland protection and the security of units deployed abroad. For this reason, Italy is working on the introduction of new defensive systems, the replacement of obsolete ones, and is reflecting on the appropriate doctrinal and organisational changes in its military structures. Defence procurement programmes involve various companies in the Italian industrial sector, called upon to invest in technologies that can match the threat. Italy is also engaged in several international projects, both in the NATO and EU frameworks, and aims at developing interoperable countermeasures systems to strengthen SHORAD and V-SHORAD capabilities of member states, especially in an anti-drone perspective.