Brussels - 30 June, 2015 by European Defence Agency

Jorge Domecq, Chief Executive of the European Defence Agency (EDA), and Massimo Garbini, Managing Director of the SESAR Deployment Manager (SDM) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Its purpose is to establish efficient cooperation and support between the two organisations with regard to SESAR deployment.

“Europe’s military fleets include some 9,500 diverse aircraft accounting for more than 150,000 flights each year. In other words, they form the single biggest ‘airline’ operating in Europe today. The challenges of the Single European Sky programme and the modernisation of European air traffic management are manifold. However, it is the role of the EDA to ensure that the European air forces will continue to have free and safe access to European airspace for training purposes, air-policing, as well as air defence missions. The financial and technological impacts of the programme need to be mitigated to ensure that they do not adversely affect European defence capabilities. Only through constructive cooperation between military and civil stakeholders, our shared vision of an efficient, safe and flexible European airspace can be realised. It is in this spirit that we sign the Memorandum of Understanding today”, said Jorge Domecq at the signature ceremony. 

Massimo Garbini, “This MoU reflects the kind of relationship we aim for with all stakeholders. Only through efficient cooperation and mutual support between both civil and military stakeholders, we can deliver the modernisation of European Air Traffic Management technology together.”

Memorandum of Understanding

The scope of the MoU covers the SESAR deployment of sets of functionalities in accordance with the relevant regulations¹. The EDA and SDM will work together to support the Member States in translating the regulation into projects to be deployed nationally with financial support from the EU. The EDA will ensure that military viewpoints and needs are captured in the SESAR Deployment Programme and support the bidding and execution processes of the projects. At the same time, the Deployment Manager will coordinate with the military through the EDA to avoid any adverse impact on national and collective defence capabilities. This involves inter alia enabling and exploiting military contributions as well as optimising the use of expertise and avoiding duplications. The EDA and SDM also agree to put in place effective coordination procedures to ensure efficient synchronisation and the timely exchange of relevant information. A Steering Committee will be set up to ensure the effective functioning of the Memorandum.

Single European Sky ATM Research

The Single European Sky (SES) aims at realising the optimisation of the airspace organisation and management in Europe through a combination of technological, economic, and regulatory efforts. SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research) is the technical pillar of this. SESAR involves developing a new ATM system to handle more traffic with greater safety and at a lower cost. Its new technologies and procedures will also seek to reduce the environmental impact of flying. The resulting efforts will be deployed in a synchronised manner involving all stakeholders, civil and military.

About SESAR Deployment Manager

SESAR Deployment Manager (SDM) is the industrial partnership that synchronises and coordinates the modernisation of Europe’s air traffic management system under the political oversight of the European Commission. The main task of the SESAR Deployment Manager is to develop, submit to the European Commission for its approval and execute the Deployment Programme, a project view strictly drawn from the Pilot Common Project (PCP) set by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 716/2014, as well as any subsequent Common Projects in future regulations. Through the Deployment Programme, the SESAR Deployment Manager will ensure efficient synchronisation and coordination of implementation projects required to implement the PCP, as well as the related investments. The tasks of the Deployment Manager are described in Article 9 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 409/2013.

Role of the EDA

In order to ensure that the effects on military aviation are understood and taken into account, Member States entrusted EDA with the task of facilitating the coordination of military views from and in support of Member States and relevant military organisations and to inform military planning mechanisms of the requirements stemming from SESAR deployment. In 2014, EDA established a dedicated SESAR Cell to ensure that the military views and requirements are taken into account in the implementation of SESAR.

More information

• Single European Sky project page
• SESAR Deployment Manager website

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Brussels - 09 April, 2014 European Defence Agency