Spain to Host EU Helicopter Training Exercise in June

[Rockville]

BRUSSELS - Spain will be hosting a three-week multinational helicopter training exercise with 34 helicopters and 500 air crew starting June 9.

The exercise is part of the European Defence Agency's Helicopter Training Program (HTP), which aims to allow European helicopter crews to practice flying in a hot, high and dusty environment - conditions they will face in countries such as Afghanistan.

Back in March 2009, EDA Chief Executive Alexander Weis said there was a lack of helicopters in European Security and Defence Policy operations "because very often, the existing helicopters and the aircrews are not 'fit for flight' in demanding operational scenarios." The idea of the HTP is to increase, in the short-term, the availability of helicopters for crisis management operations.

Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Sweden, the U.K. and Spain are slated to take part in the exercise, which will take place at the Spanish Army aviation base at Agoncillo, near Logroño. There will be a mixture of pilot abilities and experience, but there will be no mixed nationalities in the helicopters, which will fly in national formations during the exercise. There will be four A-109s, three AB 212s, three Mi24/Mi-17s, six AS-332s, five Sea Kings, two Lynx 657s, five As-532s, two A-129s, two NH90s and two EH 101s.

"Some countries will be bringing very experienced pilots who are due to deploy to Afghanistan within six months of the exercise, while others have no current aspirations to deploy but want to build up their professional skills," said EDA Helicopter Project Officer Andrew Gray. He explained that the exercise was about individual crew training, i.e. the mechanics of how to fly in a high density altitude, deal with difficulties such as turbulence around mountains as well as how to land safely in low visibility circumstances.

Looking ahead, an interoperability and tactical exercise is set to take place in March 2011.

"Hosts have been nominated [for exercises] until 2016," said Gray, who added that "currently there is no robust method of funding."

Luxembourg has agreed to pay for the June exercise, except for the transit of helicopters and crew from their country of origin and back plus spares. An annual symposium in Luxembourg in September will take stock of lessons learned from operations and further shape the development of further exercises.

In a separate but related development, the EDA is expected to propose the idea of a multinational helicopter wing to EDA countries at a steering board meeting in late 2010. Such a helicopter wing also could be used to tackle civilian incidents such as earthquakes, floods or forest fires, said an EDA official.

The official also said that Europe's efforts to develop a future transport helicopter of about 32 tons to 35 tons by 2020 "hinge on having more customers."

"We must be innovative with regard to the customer base," he said, referring to the possibility of civilian and military applications for such a helicopter.

DefenseNews,
Published: 2 Jun 2010 07:43