AFM inaugurates new operations centre

Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami yesterday officially opened the Armed Forces's new operations centre at Luqa.

The officer in charge of the centre, Captain Alex Dalli, said the centre would be used by the AFM to execute, command and control operations.

It doubles up as a rescue coordination centre and for the training of officers in radio and radar operations.

The centre will liaise with the Office of the Prime Minister, the police, the customs, civil protection and health departments and international rescue operation centres.

Its capabilities, Mr Dalli said, were upgradable and the centre could connect with anywhere in the world.

Dr Fenech Adami said it was high time that the army had a well-equipped centre

The AFM's responsibilities had increased since the British forces left Malta and the army's responsibility in search and rescue covered some 250,000 square miles.

This responsibility, he said, was even more significant in the light of the conclusion of negotiations with the EU on the fisheries chapter as Malta will manage the 25 mile fishing zone around Malta. This was not something new, but added a new dimension to the Armed Forces.

The prime minister thanked the Italian government, represented at the ceremony by Italian ambassador Alvise Memmo and other senior officers from the Stato Maggiore Della Difesa and the Italian Coast Guard Command, for donating communications equipment to the AFM.

He also thanked the Italian Military Mission in Malta for its assistance in the setting up of the new centre and the Italian Air Force for providing technical expertise for the installation of the donated equipment. The US donated computers and screens.

A study of how the operations centre was to be upgraded to better meet present day requirements was initiated by the AFM about five years ago.

An important development in the upgrading of the operations centres was the installation of a microwave link network at the beginning of the year.

Plans are also in hand to improve Malta's coastal radar surveillance capabilities, the AFM said in a statement

AFM commander Brigadier Rupert Montanaro said that besides the donated equipment, the AFM spent an additional Lm150,000 on microwave links and a global distress safety system.

He said that the new block housing the centre had been built in shell form by Air Malta in compensation for land handed over by the army. The building was estimated to have cost Lm220,000.

Brig Montanaro said the AFM should be receiving patrol boats similar to those in use by the US coast guard in November.

He said the search and rescue launches donated by Italy had been fully refurbished and would soon be in action.

The origin of the operations centre dates back to the early '70s when AFM operations were conducted from a small control room within the First Regiment at St Patrick's Barracks in Pembroke.

The control room was just enough to coordinate surveillance of the Maltese coast by two small patrol boats and light helicopters which were deployed on coastal patrol only.

Along the years, the tasks and responsibilities that emerged from the roles of the AFM developed in such a way that the need was felt for more professionally trained personnel to be available to man the control room. This in turn necessitated the need to increase the capability in terms of equipment.

However, the point where AFM was obliged to increase the capabilities of the operations centre came in April 1979, when the search and rescue responsibilities were passed on to AFM following the complete withdrawal of British forces.