Further details emerge regarding new electronic warfare capabilities equipping the Italian Army’s 33rd Electronic Warfare Regiment.
The new Esercito Italiano (Italian Army) Electronic Warfare (EW) vehicle was on display during the 2026 Eurosatory defence exhibitions held in Paris between 15th and 19th June. The capability is housed onboard an Iveco Veicolo-Tattico-Leggero-Multiruolo-2 Lince (VTLM-2/Lynx Light Tactical Multirole Vehicle). The VTLM-2 Lince, which is marketed internationally as the LMV-2, is a four-wheel drive armoured platform. Armada understands that the EW payload is being provided by ELT Group and Rohde and Schwarz. Both companies are furnishing the platform’s signals intelligence Electronic Support Measures (ESMs). Deliveries of these new vehicles to the Italian Army has commenced. They will serve with the force’s 33° Reggimento EW (33rd Electronic Warfare Regiment) headquartered in Treviso, northern Italy.
The 33rd EW Regiment is subordinate to the army’s Tactical Intelligence Brigade. Other relevant units in this latter formation include the 9th Cybernetic Security Regiment and the EW Operational Support Organisation. Open sources say the latter unit is responsible for the Command and Control (C2), and coordination, of the 9th and 33rd regiments in performing electromagnetic manoeuvre for the achievement of Electromagnetic Superiority and Supremacy (E2S).
Armada has been told that the primary missions of the 33rd EW Regiment is the detection, identification and location (henceforth known as processing) of electromagnetic targets on the battlefield at tactical and operational levels. As is standard in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) land warfare EW doctrine, these targets include military communications, primarily radios and their networks, plus ground-based radars including weapons-locating radars. The processing of these targets enables the drafting of the Recognised Electromagnetic Picture (REMP). The REMP is then shared with C2 elements which take the decision on whether these targets will be engaged with electronic, kinetic and/or cyber effects.
No details appear in the public domain concerning the EW subsystems equipping the new Italian Army vehicle, but it is likely this platform will be used to process and attack emitters across wavebands of at least 30 megahertz/MHz to six gigahertz/GHz. Concerning radar targets, this waveband would be sufficient to process S-band (2.3GHz to 2.5GHz/2.7GHz to 3.7GHz) and C-band (5.25GHz to 5.925GHz) weapons locating radars. Specifics have not been released in the public domain, but it is possible the new vehicle is equipped with ELT Group’s ELT/332 Communications Intelligence (COMINT) system. COMINT and Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) support may be provided by Rohde and Schwarz’ UMS400 signals intelligence system. According to Armada’s proprietary records, the 1L219 Zoopark-1 weapons locating radar used by Russian land forces transmits in C-band.
Certification
Sources close to the programme shared with Armada that the new EW platform is currently being certified by the Italian Army and Italian Ministry of Defence. The design has been frozen and, pending certification, an initial operational capability could be declared by the end of this year, or early next year. No details exist in the public domain concerning how many of the dedicated EW VTLM-2 vehicles the 33rd EW Regiment will receive. The Italian Army’s order-of-battle is organised around a brigade structure. Generally, between eight and twelve EW platforms (jammers and signals intelligence systems) are required to support electromagnetic manoeuvre for such a formation. The regiment is formed from four EW companies, plus a command and logistics support company. Conservatively, at least two vehicles could equip each EW company.
The Italian Army joins its French counterparts in introducing a new tactical/operational EW platform. However, challenges exist in fielding similar capability elsewhere in NATO’s European membership: The new Heer (German Army) EW platform is in jeopardy. The preferred industry team for the British Army’s forthcoming Cornerstone/Poynting cyber and electronic warfare programme has been selected, Armada understands, but is yet to be formally announced. Both Germany and the UK will need to step up their efforts in getting new land warfare EW capabilities into the manoeuvre force to keep pace with their French and Italian comrades.
by Dr. Thomas Withington
