They won't confirm it even under torture. Official denials will probably also arrive, but the papers, the official ones, sing. And they are not melodies of peace, on the contrary. The document is one of those intended for internal use, complete with dates and signatures at the bottom. The summit is dated Cagliari, 11 March 2024. Early morning, Fourth Naval Division Command, the one stationed in Augusta, Sicily. Captain Marco Merluzzi presides.
Secret slides
His slides are "very private", but a copy ended up in our hands. The plan is encrypted behind a title that says everything and more: «Technical-logistical support of the naval units of the Navy at the Cagliari site». Let it be clear, between the Ichnusa Pier and Su Siccu, the presence of submarines and destroyers has never failed, at least in passing, during the main exercises. Now, however, the plan is vast and complex, from an annex to a truly strategic base to complement that of Augusta. A sort of large-scale shipyard that had to remain for the moment armored within the four walls of Viale Colombo in Cagliari.
Naval mechanical hub
The wording spelled out clearly is a long-range program: «Progressive strengthening of a naval-mechanic logistics hub in Sardinia». Obviously we are talking about warships, all those naval units available to the Navy, without exception. We start with the ships of the Fourth Naval Division based in Cagliari, the "P409 Sirio", the "P410 Orione" and the "Titano A5324". The plan outlined in the same encrypted page of the military "climb" to the Port of Cagliari expands to include "the units of the Naval Squadron "passing through" and those "soon to be built (e.g. PPX)". Therefore, not only those in the fleet, but also the deadly ones to come. Those, so to speak, already included in the military spending "shopping cart" last July 2023.
Cagliari in the sights
And that Cagliari had long been aiming to strengthen the Navy, even before the Middle Eastern conflict, can be seen from that official note disclosed by the main shareholders of the Italian war industries: Leonardo and Fincantieri. The content is all a program with Sardinia ready for use: «As part of the OPV (Offshore Patrol Vessel) acquisition program of the Italian Navy, Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, the joint venture owned by Fincantieri and Leonardo with shares of 51% respectively % and 49%, signed with the Directorate of Naval Armaments of the General Secretariat of Defense, the contract for the construction of three new generation patrol boats, with options relating to a further three units and the infrastructural adjustments necessary for the Augusta naval bases , Cagliari and Messina, where the ships will be based."
Who authorized?
In the action plan of the giants of the war industry, therefore, there is talk, without anyone knowing anything, of "infrastructural" adjustments for the "naval base" of Cagliari. The questions are legitimate. What would these adjustments be? With whom would they have been agreed? With the Port Authority of Sardinia? With the Sardinian Region, perhaps through the Joint Joint Committee for military easements? In reality, as far as we know, there is no trace of a single " pizzino " on this previously announced and unknown infrastructural adjustment, which in theory, precisely because it is "infrastructural", should not be a modest replacement of port bollards. An operation, that of the permanent dislocation on Cagliari of a new military center and this new deadly warship, kept under wraps, as often happens in "armed corridors". To finance this warmongering "escalation" there is an allocation that for Sardinia would almost be worth a rebirth plan: «The overall value of the contract for the first three units is equal to 925 million euros, including the related logistical support services» . If we could ever talk about an investment, Cagliari would see a 310 million euro "toy" located in its port, with the related logistical support, an allocation which alone is worth much more than what was allocated for the capital city, for all the works of the Pnrr. It is the war industries that dictate the line, as often happens in these environments. The objectives of the Sardinian "mission" and of the new ship, passed off as a patrol vessel, but with "combat" functions, are clear.
Combat & toxic
The action plans of the new logistics base, starting from the new ultra-modern vessel, are described in the report by Fincantieri and Leonardo: «The Offshore Patrol Vessel program responds to the need to guarantee adequate presence and surveillance capabilities, maritime surveillance, control of merchant traffic, protection of communication lines and the exclusive economic zone, as well as protection activities from threats deriving from marine pollution, such as the spillage of toxic liquids". In essence warships: «With a length of approximately 95 meters, a displacement of 2,300 tons and the capacity to accommodate 97 crew members on board, the new patrol vessels will stand out for the concentration of technological solutions, as well as for standards of excellence in terms of automation and maneuverability, which will make them suitable for operating in a wide range of tactical scenarios and atmospheric conditions".
Two for war
What are defined as "truly revolutionary" requirements will be installed in one of the new military ships located in the heart of the Cagliari port. According to the Defense note «the Multipurpose Offshore Patrol Boats of the Navy will have at their disposal an integrated station, co-produced by Leonardo and Fincantieri, which allows the conduct of the ship and air-naval operations by only two operators, the pilot and the co-pilot. From this station, located on the control bridge, it is in fact possible to manage both the machines, the rudders and the platform systems and some functions of the combat system". In other words, with two people you can follow the route and open the "fight".
Fire to the powders
Therefore, there is a rush to "set fire to the dust", or rather to open the "naval maintenance logistics base" precisely in what was supposed to be the cruise pier, which over time has become the base of Luna Rossa and impromptu cruise ships, but increasingly frequent, disturbing presence of warships. In reality, however, it has not yet been declared what the area in which this new "easement" will have to be located will be. The Ministry of Defence, in Sardinia in particular, is used to doing what it wants, imagine if it will have problems invoking "reasons of state" to get all those who will disturb the expansion plans "evicted" from the docks in front of Via Roma . They have no time to waste. The instructions given are also of an operational and administrative nature. Were needed: welders of planking for hull structures, installers and welders of pipes, iron carpenters, engineers, engine engineers (small engines), refrigeration engineers, electronics engineers, electricians, machine tool operators (lathe, milling cutter, etc.), scaffolding construction operators and temporary works. The "military" contracts will be "disposable": valid for one calendar year, reaching the "budget ceiling", issuing orders for an indeterminate quantity "on a scale". The future is marked, from a tourist port to a war port. The step is short, or rather, immediate.