Italy steps up naval escorts in Red Sea and demands EU fleet expansion after drone strike

Escort operations in the Red Sea

The Italian Navy began direct escort operations for commercial vessels passing through the Bab al-Mandab strait on 19 September 2026. The frigate Carlo Bergamini accompanied the container ship Jolly Oro, operated by Genoa-based Messina Line, northward toward the Suez Canal without incident. Italian officials initiated the unilateral escorts after Houthi forces seized Yemen's entire western coastline and adjacent strategic islands during an offensive earlier in the month. The waterway represents a critical trade artery for Italy, carrying approximately 40% of the country's maritime foreign trade. Defense Minister Guido Crosetto declared that Rome would not wait for consensus in Brussels before securing Italian shipping.

Italy will not allow bureaucracy to delay decisions and further aggravate an already complex situation.

Airbase strike and fleet expansion requests

Tensions surrounding the deployment escalated following a drone strike on the Taif airbase in Saudi Arabia on 18 September 2026. A suspected Houthi drone strike damaged a parked Italian Air Force Eurofighter F-2000 stationed at the base east of Jeddah. Italian military officials confirmed that the strike caused material damage to the fighter jet but resulted in no personnel injuries. In response to the growing security risks, the Italian government sent a formal request to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas urging an expansion of Operation Aspides. Rome requested that the European naval mission grow from its current contingent of two frigates to at least six warships.

Burden sharing in Operation Aspides

The European Union established Operation Aspides in February 2024 to protect commercial shipping from Houthi attacks under a strictly defensive mandate. The mission operates under the joint leadership of Italy, France, and Germany, though only one Italian and one Greek frigate currently conduct active patrols. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani reiterated in an interview with Corriere della Sera that European partners must provide both naval vessels and financial compensation to support the mission. Tajani stated that Italy and Greece have borne the primary operational burden since the mission began. Rome has offered to dispatch an additional frigate to the Red Sea provided that EU partners offset the financial costs.

Italy is not at war, but the Eunavfor Aspides mission must be reinforced.

Surveillance of Russian naval convoys

Alongside its operations around the Arabian Peninsula, the Italian military stepped up surveillance across the central Mediterranean Sea. In early September 2026, the Italian Air Force dispatched a P-72A maritime patrol aircraft south of Sicily to track a three-ship Russian naval group. The Russian convoy consists of the landing ship Aleksandr Shabalin and two cargo vessels, the Anastasiia and the Yuriy Arshenevsky. The ships departed the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad in August carrying armoured personnel carriers and mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles. Satellite imagery and open-source intelligence indicate that the convoy is sailing toward the eastern Libyan port of Tobruk, located roughly 500 kilometres from the Italian coastline.