Defence`s Feeds

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KF-51 Panther Main Battle Tank

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

The only dedicated European exercise for the C-27 Spartan military aircraft launches today for two weeks of intensive joint training. Now in its sixth edition, the ‘European Spartan Exercise’ will take place at Bezmer airbase, Bulgaria with four participating nations: Bulgaria, Italy, Lithuania, Romania. The aim of the exercise is to increase interoperability among European countries operating the C-27J Spartan military aircraft.

This edition of the European Spartan Exercise will run from 3-14 October and marks the fifth time Bulgaria has hosted the exercise. Four C-27J’s will participate and around 150 personnel will be involved. The core planning team composed of personnel of participating nations and the EDA already began work on 28 September for final preparations of the exercise. All planning cells include a representative of participating nations, while medical personnel will plan dedicated missions for medical evacuation.

Tactical training

The C-27J Spartan transport aircraft is designed to perform tactical missions in peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, providing direct air transport to the theatre, day and night. The Spartan Exercise is also focused on peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, training C-27J crews to fly low level, tactical navigation in different scenarios. Several airfields in Bulgaria have been chosen for training: at Cheshnegirovo airfield, crews will perform tactical approaches, personnel airdrops and short airfield take-off and landing. Dolna Mitropolia Air Base was chosen to simulate engine running operations, known as EROs for medical evacuations. Some simulated drop zones will challenge crews when planning the missions. Operators from the Bulgarian Joint Special Operation Command will also take part in the exercise.

 

European C-27J community

European Spartan is one of the concrete outcomes of the European Air Transport Fleet (EATF) partnership signed in 2011 by 20 EDA Member States. This annual flying exercise, which is part of the EDA’s dedicated C-27J project that gathers five participating Member States that are C-27J users (the four afore-mentioned countries plus Slovakia), works to identify and develop common projects in the domains of operations, training, logistics, procurement, airworthiness and Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research (SESAR) to achieve a high level of interoperability and cost-efficient operating and maintenance models.

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EDA Chief Executive Jiří Šedivý was in Finland for high-level talks with Defence Minister Antti Kaikkonen and the Commander of the Finnish Defence Forces, General Timo Kivinen. Mr Šedivý also heard from Finnish defence ministry experts on how to foster European cooperation in the Arctic and met representatives from the Finnish defence and aerospace industry. The trip to Helsinki was part of Mr Šedivý’s ‘tour des capitales’, which sees him visiting all the EDA’s Member States.

CE VISITS MULTINATIONAL PROJECTS INVOLVING FINLAND

The discussions with Minister Kaikkonen mainly focused on Finland’s involvement in the EDA’s activities, the war in Ukraine and its impact on EU defence cooperation, spending and joint European procurement, and Finland’s accession to NATO. The minister and the chief executive also discussed the revision of the EU’s defence capability priorities contained in the Capability Development Plan (CDP).

Mr Šedivý met with the Secretary General of the Association of Finnish Defence and Aerospace Industries (AFDA), Tuija Karanko, and representatives of the Finnish defence industry.

Mr Šedivý visited Patria and Millog in Hämeenlinna, where he was shown the multinational projects of the Common Armoured Vehicle System (CAVS), and the European Future Highly Mobile Augmented Armoured Systems 2 (FAMOUS 2), which have received funding at the EU level.

To date, Finland participates in a total of 25 EDA projects and programmes. These include: capability projects on Cyber Ranges; EU Multimodal Transport Hubs; the EU SatCom market, where Finland is the biggest user; the Governmental Satellite Communications Demonstration; the Helicopter Exercise Programme (HEP); Helicopter Training Centre; and the Sharing of Spare parts. It is also involved in 12 research projects currently underway at the EDA, for instance in areas such as the Combat Unmanned Ground System, Laser Detection of Underwater Targets, and Modular Lightweight Minesweeping.

The total value of EDA programmes and projects in which Finland participates, and where a project arrangement has been agreed, stands at some €117 million. Finland also participates in five projects under the Permanent Structured Cooperation mechanism, PESCO. These are: Military Mobility; the Integrated Unmanned Ground System; Cyber Ranges Federation; the European Secure Software defined Radio (ESSOR); and the Timely Warning and Interception with Space-based TheatER surveillance.

“Finland is an active member of EDA and brings a lot of expertise to the Agency’s collaborative projects and programmes. Finland is participating in five PESCO projects, one of which is going to be finalised next year, namely the Integrated Unmanned Ground System project. These are encouraging signals. In the face of massive security challenges, especially now with the war in Ukraine, cooperation remains the most effective way forward for European defence”, Mr Šedivý said.

Minister Kaikkonen stated: “Finland is a security provider. Finland’s strong national defence and resilience have contributed to the security and stability of the region. The EU and its Member States have been compelled to react to the current security situation. The EDA has made valuable contributions to support the Member States. As the minister of defence, I wish to use EDA for turning our plans into military capabilities. The EDA is helping us in developing capabilities in a cost-effective manner.”

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