Lo Steering Groups of the European Air Group (EAG), which brings together the Chiefs of Staff or their representatives from the Air Forces of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Spain, met virtually on 18 November.
The main purpose of the EAG is to improve the operational capabilities of the seven Air Forces, focusing on tangible results to be achieved above all by increasing interoperability at the tactical and operational level.
In the last twenty years the EAG has given birth to many successful initiatives in the field of Air Power, ranging from technical enablers to training, passing through aerial operations, many of which tested and improved during the VOLCANEX exercises, always with results. excellent. Part of his work laid the foundations for subsequent significant developments, including the European Air Transport Command and the European Personnel Recovery Center.
Lo Steering Groups is the highest governance apparatus within the EAG and meets annually to provide high-level directives and guidelines to guide its work.
The 2020 Meeting was supposed to have been held last summer in Madrid, under the leadership of the Chief of Staff of the Spanish Air Force, but unfortunately it had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As restrictions persisted across Europe, it was decided to hold the meeting of Steering Groups via videoconference between the seven nations, thanks to the technical support of the permanent staff of the EAG, located at the RAF base in High Wycombe (UK).
The purpose of the meeting of the Steering Groups was to discuss the progress of the EAG's many projects, as well as to provide guidance to the permanent staff on future work. The need to continue this important work in order to overcome the difficulties imposed by the current restrictions due to COVID-19 was emphasized. Also it Steering Groups received updates on changes in work processes in response to the pandemic.
The work of the European Air Group currently embraces four areas of interest, namely Air Operations, Forces Protection, Logistics and the CIS / Cyber sector. Despite the difficulties in conducting multinational exercises throughout much of 2020, staff have been able to make significant progress in many areas: the production of the Force Protection Command & Control Handbook for use by the National Air Forces and the implementation of a Red Exchange mechanism. Air and other training enablers are just two examples of what has been achieved during the year.
The results of this meeting will allow work in these areas to progress with confidence and clear guidelines and will be implemented by the EAG Permanent Staff and Seven Nations specialists throughout the coming year and beyond.
