The 14 ° Stormo participates in EART 2017

(To air Force)
12/04/17

The exercise was concluded on Friday 7 European Air Refueling Training (EART) 2017 at the air base in Eindhoven (Netherlands), to which the 14 ° Wing of the Air Force contributed with a KC-767A aircraft.

The training activity, which began on Sunday 26 in March, focused on the ability of air refueling as a strategic tool to increase the effectiveness of air power. The Armée de l'Air also participated in the exercise with the KC-135 aircraft, the Luftwaffe with the Airbus A310 aircraft and the Royal Netherlands Air Force with the KDC 10 aircraft.

The primary objective of the EART 2017 was to implement cooperation between the air forces of the participating nations in order to improve the level of interoperability in multinational operations. In addition, the EART provided support for the international exercise Frisian Flag 2017, which took place on the Leeuwarden air base (Holland). In particular, the 14 ° Stormo with the KC-767A aircraft performed refueling operations with the French Mirage 2000D aircraft, the English GR-4 Tornados and a French E-3F AWACS aircraft.

The exercise was sponsored and promoted by theEuropean Air Transport Command (EATC), whose mission is to share the capabilities of air transport, in-flight refueling and air transport by health, among the partner countries (Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg and Italy) in order to optimize the use. The European Command for air transport represents, together with the creation in Italy of the European Center for personal recovery operations in areas at risk, one of the most concrete and successful applications of the concept of pooling and sharing and a growing integration in the defense sector in European area with the consequent realization of important economies of scale.

Italian membership of the EATC dates back to December 2014 and represents a result that enhances the capabilities of strategic transportation and in-flight refueling, ensuring greater operational flexibility and cost containment. The agreement is part of the initiatives aimed at revising the military instrument for the rationalization of available resources.