Italian public opinion has discovered, through media reports, that Italy has a military task force in Saudi Arabia, and is therefore implicitly involved in the war against Iran.
On July 30, according to the media reports, the Defense Ministry published an ample description of the Italian involvement, which is apparently covered by a Parliament resolution, whose implications nobody had understood. “Since the second half of March 2026, the Defense [Department] has deployed an Air Force group in support of Armed and Security Forces of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain,” the site reports. It consists of 400 military personnel deployed in the three countries and led by a colonel. Additionally, there is an Italian army component of around 300 troops, half of which are deployed in Saudi Arabia, an anti-missile Samp T battery, and two Kronos radar systems—one in Saudi Arabia and one in Bahrain.
The Emirates got a Skynex anti-drone battery. “The system integrates early alarm capacities, command and control, air defense, tactical transportation, radar surveillance and contrast to unmanned air systems. The use of those assets allows the strengthening of the regional security framework, helping protect strategic infrastructures and national interests in the area.”
The Italian task force, named Air Arabia, is concentrated in a base close to Yemen and the Red Sea. “The mission is: helping, with specialized assets with airspace power, air defense and surveillance of the air space of partner countries in the Gulf,” the Defense Dept wrote.
The Air Force capability deployed in Saudi Arabia consists of an E-550A CAEW, a surveillance, command-and-control aircraft, four F-2000 Eurofighters, and a C130J for tactical transport missions.
