Italian troops from the 1st Regiment Bersaglieri tank and mortar platoons, a regiment assigned
to the Bersaglieri Brigade "Garibaldi" are taking part in NATO's Steadfast Defender 2021.
Its early morning and the troops, some of which are special forces are preparing to
board their 23 tonnes Dardo infantry fighting vehicles and will shortly begin conducting
tank maneuvers in Cincu, Romania.
These Italian troops are part of NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF)
and are joined today by Turkish Army Troops who have brought along their BMC Vuran Mine-Resistant
Ambush Protected vehicles.
The Turkish army has taken the lead of NATO’s VJTF, placing thousands of soldiers on standby,
ready to deploy within days.
Built around Turkey’s 66th Mechanised Infantry Brigade of around 4,200 troops, a total of
around 6,400 soldiers from 10 NATO member countries will serve on the VJTF.
The footage today focuses on the Italian troops field maneuvers, operating their rarely filmed
Dardo infantry fighting vehicles, specifically designed and operated only by Italian Forces.
The Italian Army operate 200 Dardo IFV which is a part replacement for the aging M113 Armoured
personnel carrier fleet, which is still just about in service, however another M113 replacement
the Iveco Light Multirole Vehicle (LMV) a four wheel drive tactical vehicle, continues
to be delivered in large numbers to Italian forces, its expected the Italian army will
operate nearly 4,000 of these by 2034