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Our history<img alt="" src="http://webtest.cira.it/PublishingImages/uffici%20direzionali%20LCS.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" />https://www.cira.it/en/corporate/about-us/our-history/Our historyOur history<p style="text-align:justify;"><span lang="EN-GB">In the late 1960s, an Interministerial committee, later known as the Caron Committee, was entrusted with preparation of the report on the Italian aerospace industry and its development by the Interministerial Committee on Economic Planning (CIPE). For the first time, the report revealed that support for development of the domestic aerospace industry required an appropriate research centre along the lines of those that could already be found in other advanced countries.<br> A few years later, in 1978, the Italian Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) put forward the first comprehensive proposal for identifying the requirements of the proposed research centre. On 20 July 1979, CIPE voted to confirm the creation of the centre and to locate it in the region of Campania, Southern Italy. In December 1979, Vito Scalia, then Minister for Science and Technology Research, entrusted a committee coordinated by Professor Giuseppe Gabrielli with an assessment of the centre. The committee approved the plan and stated in its own report the initial requirements in terms of facilities and research. <br> In response to Scalia’s request, three engineering firms – Italimpianti, Fiat Engineering and Technipetrol – then formed a consortium to carry out a feasibility study funded by the Cassa del Mezzogiorno development agency. The consortium submitted its report to the Cassa on August 3, 1983. In April 1984, the study was reviewed and approved by an additional Interministerial committee. This formed the basis for the creation on July 9, 1984 of CIRA ScpA, a company whose shareholders included the Area Sviluppo Industriale of Caserta, on the basis of a trustee mandate by the Campania regional government,  and a majority of the Italian aerospace companies and AIA members. <br> In 1985, after the approval of the first allocation for CIRA, CIPE voted on the feasibility study and approved this with the amendments suggested by Professors Napolitano, Buongiorno and Laurienzo. On December 12, CIRA’s board of directors identified Capua airfield as the site of the future centre.<br> In 1986, CIPE entrusted CIRA ScpA with the executive design, construction and management of the Italian Aerospace Research Centre and called the Ministry for Scientific Research to prepare the decree specifying the legal instruments and administrative processes required to fund and operate the Centre. <br> On March 23, 1988, the government introduced in Parliament the draft bill titled "Creation and operation of the National Aerospace Research Centre", which served as a basis for Law 184, approved in 1989 with the new title "Creation and operation of the National Aerospace Research Programme".<br> From that moment CIRA was finally able to launch its activities within a clearly defined legal and administrative framework. A crucial figure during initial start-up was Luigi G. Napolitano, the Neapolitan scientist who was called to chair the CIRA Technical Scientific Board. Napolitano made a valuable contribution to identifying the Centre’s main thrust of development and was eventually appointed Chairman of CIRA by the Minister of Scientific Research, sadly only a few days before his untimely death in July 1991. </span></p><p style="text-align:justify;"><br> Regulatory framework</p><p style="text-align:justify;"> CIPE’s decision of July 20, 1979 established that the Centre would be set in the area of Naples, and the Italian Aerospace Research Centre was included in the package of the "Special project for research applied to the Mezzogiorno".</p><p style="text-align:justify;"> Law n. 184 of May 1989 entrusted to the CIRA Company the management of the PRO.R.A. (National Aerospace Research Programme), as well as the design, realisation and management of the instrumental works of the programme.</p><p style="text-align:justify;"> Law n. 46 of February 1991 defined the State’s contribution to the expenses of the PRO.R.A. programme, equal to 40 billion per year.</p><p style="text-align:justify;"> The Ministerial Decree 305/98 amended the provisions of CIRA and the PRO.R.A. programme with Law n. 184 of 1989, as well as its tools and implementation procedures and forms of public participation, with the abrogation of law n. 184 of 1989 and of art.1, paragraph 2 law n. 46 of 1991.</p><p style="text-align:justify;"> Art. 1 of MD 305/98 gave effect to the objectives of the PRO.R.A. programme and, pursuant to paragraph 1 of art. 4 of the aforementioned decree, the cost to the State for implementation of PRO.R.A. was estimated to be 750 billion lire while, according to paragraph 2 of the same article, the State’s contribution to the expenses of managing the work and the activities at point a) was 40 billion lire per year.</p><p style="text-align:justify;"> The Interministerial Decree of August 3, 2000, endorsed the PRO.R.A. update as provided by letter b), paragraph 2 of art. 1 of M.D. 305/98 which authorised the implementation and valorisation of large research infrastructures, as well as the realisation of aerospace platforms. The Decree also authorised the use of any annual resources that were set aside, like the State’s contribution to the management expenses of the work and activities in point a) of article 1 of M.D. 305/98, but eventually not used, allocating them to the implementation of PRO.RA.</p><p style="text-align:justify;"> The Interministerial Decree n. 674 of March 24, 2005 approved a subsequent update to PRO.R.A. with paragraph 3, art. 2 of M.D. 305/98 which authorised, in the chapter on investment costs, the "completion of the Test Facilities and Earth Labs" and the execution of "Plans for Technological Development", in terms of investments and human resources for the realisation of the UAV and USV flight demonstrators. The M.D. authorised, among other things, the realisation of new systems like Hyprob, subject to the allocation of funds deriving from P.O. 1994-99 "Research, technological development and advanced training".</p><p style="text-align:justify;"> Determination 20/2007 of the Court of Auditors – Section on control of the bodies that subjects CIRA SCpA to the control of the Court.</p><p style="text-align:justify;"> The Ministerial Decree 1090/2008 allows for financing of the HYPROB project with FESR funds of the P.O. 1994/1999.</p><p style="text-align:justify;"><br> </p><p><br></p>

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