On 22 May, a delegation from the European Air Group (EAG), headed by Brigadier General Patrick Goossens, visited the European Air Transport Command (EATC) in Eindhoven. This visit followed EATC’s participation in the Distinguished Visitors Day of Exercise VOLCANEX in April 2025.
The visit focused on enhancing mutual understanding and identifying potential areas for collaboration between the two organisations. Both EATC and EAG presented their respective business models, highlighting their roles in the European defence architecture.
From EATC’s side, the discussion centred on operational efficiency and effectiveness, as well as functional domains such as standardisation and harmonisation. Particular interest was drawn to EATC’s Lighthouse Project and its innovative A400M cross-maintenance concept—a cooperative maintenance approach currently under consideration for expansion to the A330 MRTT and C-130J fleets.
General Goossens commended the initiative, expressing interest in pursuing similar cooperative maintenance models for fighter aircraft among European nations operating Typhoon or F-35 platforms.
Another highlight of the exchange was EATC’s flagship exercise, the European Air Refuelling Training (EART). EART brings together strategic air assets such as the A330 MRTT and KC-767 in complex air-to-air refuelling scenarios, combining strategic and tactical layers. This dual-level training is also relevant to EAG, whose primary focus lies at the tactical level, in contrast to EATC’s strategic orientation.
In turn, EAG raised discussion points focused on avoiding duplication of effort, aligning airworthiness regulations across nations, exchanging best practices, reducing overhead, and enhancing multinational maintenance support.
For Exercise Pitch Black 2026, a biennial air combat exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force, EAG proposed a joint approach with EATC, building on lessons learned from 2024 to address challenges such as human resource and logistical footprints.
Finally, both organisations explored the potential of leveraging big data and artificial intelligence to move from reactive to predictive maintenance and decision-making approaches.
The visit concluded with a shared lunch and a guided tour of EATC’s mission control room. Before departing, General Goossens signed the EATC Golden Book, marking a promising step forward in mutual cooperation between EATC and EAG.