Maltese and Italian units in joint military exercise

The Maltese and Italian armed forces are jointly holding the 11th edition of the Canale military exercise in the sea around and airspace over the Maltese archipelago.

The exercise is aimed primarily at enhancing cooperation in search and rescue, control and inspection of merchant ships suspected of illegal activities, control of illegal migration by sea and maritime explosive ordinance disposal and recovery operations.

This year's edition of the exercise sees the Armed Forces of Malta taking the lead role in planning and coordination.

Military observers from neighbouring countries have been invited to follow the exercise.

Italy will deploy the Maestrale class frigate Espero, the Cassiopea class offshore patrol vessel Vega, the salvage tug Polifemo, two land-based helicopters, one explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) diving team and one boarding team from the Regimento San Marco; two search and rescue helicopters based in Italy and an AB212 helicopter from the Italian Military Mission in Malta. The Italian coast guard will also deploy one Diciotti class long-range patrol boat, a fast 200-class patrol boat and a Piaggio p-166 fixed-wing reconnaissance aircraft. A fast patrol boat of the Carabinieri will also be used.

Malta will deploy a Kondor class patrol boat, a Protector class patrol boat, two Melita class rescue launches, an Islander fixed-wing maritime reconnaissance aircraft and an Alouette helicopter, an EOD diving team and a boarding team.

The exercise continues up to Friday.