NAM Programme secures Air-to-Air Refuelling training for SAC fleet through a Foreign Military Sales Case
Szöveg: honvedelem.hu / sacprogram.org | 2015. október 26. 9:00On 22 September, one of the C-17s of the Strategic Airlift Capability executed an air-to-air refuelling training mission with a US Air National Guard KC-135 tanker aircraft operating from Geilenkirchen Air Base, Germany. This was the first AAR mission to take place under an agreement signed by SAC and the US Government.
A SAC C-17 performing air-to-air refueling with a KC-135 tanker aircraft. Photo: HAW / Bert Dikken
Although SAC has executed air-to-air refueling missions before with the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) units, this mission is the first one after the NATO Airlift Management (NAM) Programme Office, an integral part of the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), and the United States Government signed an agreement which describes their cooperation in the field of air-to-air refuelling training.
The signed 3-year Foreign Military Sales case provides SAC a guaranteed source of US ANG tanker aircraft to meet the yearly 130-hour training requirement. The agreement will make SAC air-to-air refuelling training and operations more reliable and will reduce the planning workload for the personnel of the Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW), the operator of SAC aircraft.
The contract is also a good reflection of the new NATO approach to integration and interoperability cooperation. It defines the combined effort to organize training in a more efficient way by the USAF, US ANG, the HAW and the NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Force (NAEW&CF). Both E-3A’s and SAC C-17’s are now using the same AAR capacity increasing efficiency and decreasing costs on both sides.
Ms Gabriella Soos, NAM Mission Support Officer, explained that “the common training between the NAEW Component, the HAW and US ANG gives opportunity to learn and practice NATO standards, airspace usage and air-to-air refuelling procedures and it will help the three military units to maintain their operational currency requirements."
“The air-to-air refuelling training provides a great opportunity for the two unique military units to strengthen cooperation and deepen the relationship", she highlighted.
