New Delhi, May 12 -- As of October 2024, following the Indo-Pacific deployment of the 31st Naval Group, the embarked Air Wing aboard Cavour achieved Initial Operational Capability (IOC). This milestone was not simply a matter of meeting numerical benchmarks established by Navy Headquarters and the Air Forces Command in terms of qualified pilots, maintainers, aircraft numbers and weapons inventory. It represented the attainment of a genuine operational capability. Since the delivery of the first aircraft assigned to the Group in 2021, a comprehensive Operational Test & Evaluation (OT&E) campaign has been conducted. Twelve macro-areas were defined, spanning operational effectiveness, interoperability with the carrier and other strategic asset...