Naval aviation: over a century of technical integration bridging two worlds

Seminar open to all, held in English language

Speaker
STV (RS) Riccardo Lancioni from the Italian Navy

Abstract
The history of shipborne naval forces goes back over a century, a tale written in audacious engineering solutions, rapid industrial development, extensive progress in aircraft capabilities and unusual shipbuilding. The French navy commissioned the seaplane tender La Foudre in 1911. Only eight years after the first flight of the Wright brothers, the first ship-based airplane force was operational. From the Battle of Jutland until today, the naval flight component has grown in importance in naval affairs. In the beginning, aircraft provided over-the-horizon eyes for battleship-based fleets, but the rapid evolution of aircraft technology has become a real game changer. The guns were no more the main weapon of the fleets. The undeniable results of the World War II naval engagements made it obvious. Combining the carriers with the new nuclear technology made it possible to build supercarriers with a compartment of thousands of men and a flying component of a little less than one hundred aircraft: a floating airport. For other navies, a wide variety of options have been developed over the past sixty years to guarantee what is now a requirement of a modern blue water navy: the capability to project power anywhere in the world from the blue element deep into the continents.

Short Bio
STV Riccardo Lancioni is a Lieutenant junior grade (reserve) of the Italian Navy (Marina Militare). He is the author of “La Guerra per il Sinai” published by Edizioni Chillemi in 2021. He is currently PhD candidate in History at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM).