Italy carrier strike group joins Australia war games, will visit Philippines

An Italian carrier strike group on its first deployment to the Indo-Pacific region will sail through the South China Sea to the Philippines after participating in war games with US allies in Australia, a senior Italian navy official said on Thursday.

The moves come amid rising tensions between China and some of its neighbours in the contested South China Sea region. About 40% of Europe's foreign trade flows through the South China Sea, where the United States, Japan, Australia and other nations have conducted joint maritime exercises they say uphold freedom of navigation. China claims almost the entire strategic waterway.

The Italian aircraft carrier Cavour is in the northern Australian town of Darwin taking part in Exercise Pitch Black this week, where Italy is contributing nearly two dozen fighter jets to the 20-nation drills with host Australia.

The United States, Britain, Japan, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea are also taking part.

It is the first time an aircraft carrier has joined the exercises, Italian Navy Rear Admiral Giancarlo Ciappina said.

Twenty-three Italian jets, including eight stealthy F-35Bs, are practising dogfights, strikes and other operations alongside its allies over huge swathes of largely unpopulated land in northern Australia.

"Pitch Black gives us a chance to work with the main F-35 communities, shoulder to shoulder," said Captain Dario Castelli, the strike group's carrier air wing commander. "In terms of deploying far from home, it is also an incredible logistics exercise for us."

After the current exercises end on Aug. 2, the 1,200-person strong Italian carrier strike group will travel to the US Pacific territory of Guam and Japan, before transiting the South China Sea to the Philippines for the first time, Ciappina said.

'VERY POWERFUL TOOL'

Ciappina said his strike group did not plan to conduct any freedom of navigation operations.

The Cavour will carry out humanitarian work in the Philippines, performing surgery on children in the ship's hospital while at port in Manila, he said.

"An aircraft carrier - just being present somewhere, it has an effect, it can influence. It is a very powerful tool," Ciappina said.

Manila and Beijing have traded barbs repeatedly over jurisdiction as the the Philippines challenges China's permanent presence around strategic features inside Manila's exclusive economic zone.

Ciappina said the Italian Navy's first Indo-Pacific deployment improved its training and provided a better understanding of the region.

Although the deployment is not a NATO initiative, Italy has coordinated with the French Navy and Britain's Royal Navy, which will send ships to the region later in the year, to ensure significant capacity remains in the Mediterranean, he said. 

"Everything is connected... that's why we have to also be present in the Pacific now," he said.