On 20 November 2015, the NCI Agency signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the MOD Italy on future Satellite Ground Station, during a ceremony hosted by the Italian Delegation.
The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) covers a range of support activities to be provided by Italy for project implementation at one of the future Satellite Ground Station (SGS) sites in Lughezzano, Verona.
The SGS project will procure two new multi-antenna SGSs on the sites of existing NATO Satellite Ground Terminals (SGTs) in Belgium (SGT F1, at Kester) and Italy (SGT F14), and will upgrade two further SGTs in Greece (F11) and Turkey (F13). It will also provide options for 20 years industrial support arrangement for the resulting capability.
Specific tasks covered under the MOA include formal submission of construction permits, representing the NCI Agency's interests with regional authorities to resolve environmental concerns providing support and guidance during design and construction to ensure that appropriate national regulations and procedures are observed. The MOA formalises support already provided during the project's preparatory stages where MOD Italy has arranged for expropriation of the land necessary to accommodate the upgraded facility and upgraded the site's utility infrastructure in order to support the increased load handled by the site.
The MOA was signed by the Agency General Manager, GEN (rtd) Koen Gijsbers, and by the Chief C4I Systems and Transformation Division MOD Italy, VADM Ruggiero Di Biase.