EART 2015 has begun. With a German Airbus A310 MRTT lifting at 8.55 am from Eindhoven Airbase, the second edition of the European Air-to-Air Refuelling Training is in place now.
Within this training serial, EDA together with EATC and Eindhoven Airbase start introducing academics for the aircrews. Also flying mentors will observe and evaluate the multinational cooperation. New on EART 2015 is also another outcome of the EDA AAR Project: With the recognition that in NATO there was no dedicated multinational training for AAR Planners, NATO Command and Control Centres (CAOC), together with AIRCOM and JAPCC, developed the Specialized Heavy Air Refuelling Course (SHARC). The first official course was held in February 2015. The course incorporates challenges replicating scenarios that the student will see in a large scale exercise or operation. It ensures standardization and continuous improvement within the NATO AAR community. EART will integrate “hands on” training for graduates of SHARC, which can be considered as a logical follow-up of this course as it will keep them proficient and prepare them for “real world” operations. This will be the first time that SHARC graduates participate in a live flying exercise.
Future EART
EART can be hosted by different nations multiple times a year to support different national and international fighter exercises, thus increasing the training opportunities for AAR units and - at the same time - providing a standardised support for the European and NATO fighter community. In case of future operations and missions, the AAR community will be better prepared to supply a variant of different aircraft.
EART 2015 will take place from 13 -24th of April. Participating tankers come from France, Germany, Italy and the host nation, the Netherlands.
Words: Thomas/Osch
Title Picture: Norbert Thomas
