This year’s first edition of the European Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Course (EAATTC) just started in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Academic sessions and live missions will take place until 3 April 2015, with graduating crews joining from four EU countries.

Initiated by the European Defence Agency and run by the European Air Transport Command, the EAATTC series of courses aim to provide air transport crews with a robust airlift tactics training syllabus in order to enhance interoperability between European air forces. EAATTC 15-1, hosted by the Bulgarian Air Force in Plovdiv, has started today with the first academic sessions and familiarisation flights.

Four countries are joining EAATTC 15-1 with their tactical transport aircraft: Bulgaria (1 x C-27J), Germany (1 x C160), France (1 x C-130) and Italy (1 x C-130J). Due to other operational commitments, Czech Republic and the Netherlands were not able to contribute with aircraft as initially planned.

Over the next days, the complexity of the academic training and the flying sorties will gradually increase. At the end of the course, graduating crews will be presented with a certificate based on the completion of a commonly-agreed syllabus.

The EAATTC series of courses is one of the deliverables of the European Air Transport Fleet partnership, launched in 2011 by 20 participating nations under the framework of the European Defence Agency.

More information

• Link to EAATTC 15-1 factsheet
• Story on the European Air Transport Command's website
• European Air Transport Fleet project page

After almost two weeks of intensive training, six crews coming from five different Member States have graduated from the first-ever edition of the European Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Course (EAATTC) which took place in Spain from 21 September to 3 October. In total, 29 students from Spain, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands completed the course.

Over the course of the exercise, 56 sorties were flown accounting for about 100 flight hours, 31 drops were conducted as well as 92 tactical approaches and 15 landing on unprepared airstrips.

A combination of academic lessons and actual flights, this first edition of EAATTC was hosted by the Spanish air force on Zaragoza airbase. “Spain provided great support to the event”, Michele Rega, EDA Project Officer Fixed-Wing Aircraft and EAATTC14 exercise director, points out. “We were able to deliver high-level training to our first class of crews and this successful first edition paves the way towards future EAATTC events”, he adds. Three  additional courses, including single-ship, multiple-ship, and night vision goggles (NVG) training, are expected to take place in 2015 in Bulgaria, France, and Spain. 

Designed at the request of Member States to provide European air transport crews with an advanced academic and flying training syllabus, EAATTC was initiated by the European Defence Agency in close cooperation with the European Air Transport Command (EATC), which brought major support to the course in terms of human resources and expertise. 

The course is intended to become a European alternative to the American AATTC initiative, a rendezvous that has been attended for decades by airlift crews from the US and allied nations. However, European Member States are now seeking different ways to provide their crews with this much-needed training. EAATTC is the perfect answer to that ever-growing challenge, with European air forces now able to benefit from a high-level training closer to their home bases, thus saving the cost of a return trip across the Atlantic. 

Background

EAATTC is one of the tangible outputs of the wider European Air Transport Fleet (EATF) partnership launched in 2011 and now gathering 19 Member States plus Norway (AT, BE, BG, CZ, DE, EL, ES, FI, FR, IT, LT, LU, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SE and HU). A perfect example of pooling resources and sharing knowledge and expertise, this initiative aims to achieve a higher level of interoperability between airlift crews from different nations and to increase harmonisation of advanced tactical training. Other activities undertaken as part of EATF include the European Air Transport Training (EATT) series of events as well as the European Air Transport Symposium, both organised once a year by the European Defence Agency; the further development and management of the diplomatic clearances technical arrangement; and the development of a common maintenance and training project for operators of the C-27J Spartan transport aircraft.

More information

• EAATTC14 pictures are available on our Flickr gallery
• EAATTC14 interview: "A robust training syllabus to enhance interoperability"
• New EDA-designed air transport training course to launch next week

Brussels - 17 September, 2014 European Defence Agency

Eight aircraft, eight crews and more than 170 military personnel will gather next week in Zaragoza, Spain, for a true European first. From 21 September to 3 October, the European Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Course (EAATTC) will be joined by seven Member States and hosted by the Spanish Air Force.

Initiated by the European Defence Agency in close cooperation with the European Air Transport Command (EATC), this first-of-its-kind initiative is a perfect example of pooling and sharing. Its aim is to provide air transport crews with academic as well as flying training tactics and procedures through three main courses: single-ship, multiple-ships, and night-vision goggles (NVG). A dedicated tactics techniques and procedures manual will form the basis of this syllabus. The EATC is an important contributor to the EAATTC initiative, providing major support to the course in terms of human resources while also leading the cadre of instructors that will deliver the syllabus to the students.

This course was designed by the EDA as a European alternative to the American AATTC initiative, a rendezvous that has been attended for decades by airlift crews from the US and allied nations. However, European Member States are now seeking different ways to provide their crews with this much-needed training. EAATTC is the perfect answer to that rising challenge, with European air forces now able to benefit from a high-level training closer to their home bases, thus saving the cost of a return trip across the Atlantic. At the end of EAATTC 14, an initial class of students will be the very first to graduate from this European-led course.

Background

EAATTC is one of the tangible outputs of the wider European Air Transport Fleet (EATF) partnership, launched in 2011 and now gathering 19 Member States plus NO (AT, BE, BG, CZ, DE, EL, ES, FI, FR, IT, LT, LU, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SE and HU). The initiative aims to achieve a higher level of interoperability between airlift crews from different nations and to increase harmonisation of advanced tactical training. Other activities undertaken as part of EATF include the European Air Transport Training (EATT) series of events as well as the European Air Transport Symposium, both organised once a year by the European Defence Agency; the further development and management of the diplomatic clearances technical arrangement; and the development of a common maintenance and training project for operators of the C-27J Spartan transport aircraft.

List of EAATTC14 participating Member States

• Belgium: 1 x C-130 Hercules
• Czech Republic: 1 x C295
• Germany: 1 x C160 Transall
• Spain : 1 x C-130 Hercules, 1x C295
• France: 1 x C160 Transall
• Italy : 1 x C-27J Spartan
• The Netherlands: 1 x C-130 Hercules

More information

• EATT14: Final results and plans for 2015

Multinational training exercises increase interoperability among participating Member States; they are an efficient way to prepare armed forces for CSDP operations. This year, the European Defence Agency is organising in close cooperation with the respective host nations, contributing Member States and Air Transport Organisations four training exercises in the areas of Air-to-Air Refuelling, transport aircraft and helicopters.

First European Air Refuelling Training

While the fighter community has trained to operate together for years, the same cannot be said for Air-to-Air Refuelling. From 31 March to 11 April 2014, EDA together with the European Air Transport Command and the Netherlands are organising the first multinational Air-to-Air Refuelling (AAR) training opportunity in support of the Dutch Frisian Flag exercise. To this date, the Netherlands (KDC-10), Germany (A310) and Italy (KC-767) have confirmed to send their tankers to the flying event which will be an excellent opportunity to train dedicated AAR scenarios embedded in a highly recognised fighter exercise. The Air-to-Air Refuelling  planning cell will be split between Eindhoven and Leeuwarden air base to foster overall air refuelling planning and tanker operations.

Third European Air Transport Training

Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Norway will participate in the third edition of EDA’s European Air Transport Training flying event with ten transport aircraft of four different types; Greece will  support the training with fighters and AWACS. Taking place from 16 to 27 June 2014 at the International Airport in Plovdiv in Bulgaria, the training offers participants a unique opportunity to plan and execute missions within a multinational framework and achieve flexible training objectives. The crews will be trained in a variety of airlift disciplines. The aim is to increase interoperability, to consolidate existing qualifications or to regain them in a short period of time and with dedicated assets.

European Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Course

The new European Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Course (EAATTC) aims at achieving a higher level of interoperability between airlift crews from different nations; at increasing harmonisation of advanced tactical training that will lead to higher effectiveness and survivability in operations; at sharing knowledge and providing cost efficient airlift training in Europe. Based on an agreed syllabus Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway will participate in the first course with eight aircraft of five different types. The flying event will be hosted by Spain at Zaragoza airbase from 22 September to 03 October 2014. This permanent training event is developed in close cooperation with the European Air Transport Command and EDA Member States; it is similar in set-up to the advanced airlift tactics training course that has been offered in the US since 1987.

Hot Blade 2014

Between 16 and 30 July, the Ovar Air Base in northern Portugal will host the third sequel of the successful series of Hot Blade exercises, powered by the Helicopter Exercise Programme (HEP). Currently, some 30 helicopters, four fast jets, three transport aircraft and one Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance platform have been committed by Austria, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and United Kingdom. Additional to Portuguese ground forces, 450 ground troops from the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom are scheduled to participate as well allowing for a more integrated mission planning and execution. So far, roughly 50% of participant to one of the previous helicopter exercises organised in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Belgium have later been deployed to operations. 

More information:

• EDA Helicopter Initiatives – project page

• Pictures of Hot Blade 2013 are available here 

• Read more about the European Air Transport Fleet 

• View the EATT13 Factsheet

• Pictures from EATT13 are published on Flickr. 

• Videos from previous exercises are available on YouTube.