An Italian mission to Saudi Arabia has come to light. Avs: "Chigi kept it secret." Crosetto: "All you had to do was read the documents"

A new controversy is sweeping through military circles and rapidly spilling over into the political arena. It centres on an Italian mission in the Gulf, which was followed by an attack from the opposition and a response from the Defence Minister. Let’s take it one step at a time.

From the second half of March 2026, following the crisis in the Gulf region and the request for support made by partner countries, “the Italian Ministry of Defence deployed an Air Force contingent to support the armed and security forces of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain”. This is stated on the Ministry of Defence’s website, on a dedicated page that effectively announces the existence of the Air-Arabia Task Force – a deployment first reported yesterday by journalist Fausto Biloslavo in "Il Giornale". The Task Force, explains the statement posted by the Ministry on its website, “contributes to the surveillance and defence of airspace, as well as to the protection of national forces and interests present in the area”. The national contingent, it is explained, consists of around 400 Italian Air Force personnel, deployed in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain. It is commanded by Colonel Michele Schiavi and comprises various groups: “Task Group Argo, equipped with an E-550A CAEW aircraft, a multi-sensor system for early warning, aerial surveillance and command, control and communication functions. This configuration enables the detection, identification and tracking of potential aerial threats. The Typhoon Task Group, comprising four Eurofighter F-2000A aircraft, deployed to assist in the defence of the assigned airspace. The Medal Task Group, equipped with C-130J/KC-130J transport aircraft. Task Group Kuwait, which provides aerial surveillance capabilities via an AN/TPS-77 air defence radar and delivers specialist technical support to Kuwait Air Force aircraft. And finally, Task Group C-UAS, equipped with the ACUS-E anti-drone system, deployed to counter small unmanned aerial systems.”

According to Biloslavo’s report, a ground contingent of the Italian Army comprising around 300 personnel (half of whom are in Saudi Arabia) is also deployed on the Arabian Peninsula: the Land Task Force – Arabia, the existence of which can be confirmed via the Ministry of Defence’s website. It is also reported that the Land Task Force has deployed a SAMP-T battery (surface-to-air missile system) for air defence and missile defence, one KRONOS radar (model unspecified) in Saudi Arabia and one in Bahrain, and a SKYNEX anti-aircraft artillery battery in the United Arab Emirates. 

The issue has quickly taken on a political dimension. “The Meloni government has for months concealed from Parliament and the Italian people the deployment of Italian troops and weapons to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states during Trump’s illegal war against Iran,” said Nicola Fratoianni, leader of Avs. “The right’s subservience to the US president must not be allowed to trample on our Constitution. They must now come to Parliament immediately to explain their actions and finally tell the truth,” he concluded.

The PD has tabled a parliamentary question in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate “to seek clarity regarding the new task force in Saudi Arabia, which sees Italian military personnel deployed in a theatre characterised by growing tensions”. According to PD members Alfieri, Amendola, Graziano and Provenzano, the latest resolution concerning international missions for 2026 provided, under Section 4, for the extension not only of missions in Iraq but also of the deployment of Italian military personnel in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar to meet requirements linked to international missions in the Middle East and Asia. “Saudi Arabia is therefore not included among the countries covered by Section 4 of the extension resolution,” the PD representatives noted. “We have already, on several occasions, challenged the government’s attempt to force through new rules allowing for the interoperability of military assets and personnel across different operations, provided they fall under the same section authorised by Parliament. This undermines the transparency and clarity of information, to the detriment of MPs – both in the majority and the opposition – who are required to make sensitive decisions. But in this case, if the reports are confirmed, we have gone a step further, deploying military assets and personnel in a country that is not expressly included in the extension authorising missions for 2026,” the statement concludes.

According to Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, “the PD’s parliamentary question is based on a false premise. It would have been sufficient to follow closely the hearings of the Chief of the Defence Staff and the Commander of COVI before the Defence Committees of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, or to read carefully the Missions Decree and the relevant fact sheets, to verify that the regulatory and operational framework was set out with the utmost transparency”, reads a statement published today. “The information referred to today was already public and available,” the statement continues. “So much so that it was enough for a journalist to consult the Ministry of Defence’s official website to correctly piece together what some opposition MPs claim not to know. Parliamentary committees are the forum for debate and in-depth analysis. If they are used primarily to fuel controversy, rather than to listen, study the documents and examine the content in depth, there is a real risk of tabling questions based on incorrect assumptions.” Explanations aside, Crosetto nevertheless said he was willing to provide further clarification, “in the belief that, on such sensitive issues, debate must be based on facts and not on speculation.”