Seven aircraft from six countries (Czech Republic, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain) currently gather at Zaragoza Airbase in Spain for the fourth training event this year organised in the framework of the European Air Transport Fleet (EATF). From 6 to 18 September, participants of the European Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Course (EAATTC) will undergo a robust training in order to enhance interoperability between European air forces. A total of 130 flight hours and 63 sorties are planned.

The first week of the course will start with tactical awareness academics spread over four half-days and basic flying sorties. The complexity of the missions will increase over the course of the second week to involve low-level flying, cargo and personnel air drop, engine running operations, air-to-air (F18 and Eurofighters) and surface-to-air threats as well as maximum effort landings. At the end of the two weeks course, crews will receive a graduation certificate and patch.   

Host country: Spain 

The European Air Transport Command (EATC), EDA and Spain as host nation constitute the “Core Planning Team” of the flying event. Together with a team of international tactical instructors from seven different countries (Belgium, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, France and Germany), they will challenge the course participants. This is the fourth time that Spain is hosting an EATF event. Moreover Spain has been selected to host the permanent European Airlift Centre (ETAC) with its tactical arrangement currently under development. The Initial Operating Capability (IOC) of the centre is foreseen for September 2016.   

Improving interoperability 

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. It takes crews into a theatre-deployment mindset, exposing them to airland and airdrop missions in a tactically-challenging environment. Emphasis is put on aircraft operations and on application of procedures in a changing environment. 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:

• Pictures are available on Flickr
• The EAATTC15-3 factsheet is available here.
• More information on the EATF is available here.
• Visit the website of the European Air Transport Command (EATC).

Latvia joined the Diplomatic Clearances Technical Arrangement as 14th member on 1st January 2015. Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden already signed the arrangement to simplify and harmonise military air transport in Europe. 

The aim of EDA’s Diplomatic Clearances Technical Arrangement is to harmonise procedures for overflights and landings of EU nations military registered or operated transport aircraft. The arrangement enables signatory member states to operate without the need to submit diplomatic requests for each flight since an annual diplomatic clearance number is issued. 

This common mechanism increases efficiency and effectiveness of European airlift as there is more flexibility during mission preparation and mission execution. Furthermore it saves human and financial resources of the member states with a significantly reduced number of required requests and notifications. A dedicated online portal provides basic transparency on national policies and procedures for granting diplomatic clearances for military transport aircraft according to the technical arrangement. 

Background

The disparate requirements to obtain diplomatic clearances to land in or to fly over EU member states cause unnecessary delays and hamper swift airlift operations. The legacy diplomatic clearances mechanism needs to be tailored to the 21st century’s requirements, especially looking at the future implementation of the Single European Sky (SES) where a route driven system will evolve into a trajectory driven system.

More information:

• European Air Transport Fleet project page
• Map signatories Diplomatic Clearances Technical Arrangement (copyright EDA)