Air Power, Insurgency and the “War on Terror” - Prof. Joel Hayward's ...

Neglected Contributors: The Continental European <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>s
European <strong>Air</strong>lift Co-ordination Centre (EACC) in <strong>the</strong> Ne<strong>the</strong>rl<strong>and</strong>s began co-ordinating
European transport <strong>and</strong> air-to-air refuelling aircraft. EACC is part of a process that is
about to lead to a common European Transport Comm<strong>and</strong>.
In <strong>the</strong> late 1990s, German Defence Minister Scharping had particularly supported <strong>the</strong>
setting up of a common European transport comm<strong>and</strong> in order partially to remedy
European shortcomings highlighted in <strong>the</strong> context of NATO’s Defence Capabilities
Initiative <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> European Headline Goal. 671 At <strong>the</strong> Franco-German summit in November
1999, France <strong>and</strong> Germany declared <strong>the</strong>ir intention to transform <strong>the</strong>ir co-operation in
<strong>the</strong> field of military airlift into a European <strong>Air</strong> Transport Comm<strong>and</strong> (EATC). The setting
up of EATC has been pursued in an evolutionary way so far. A European <strong>Air</strong> Group
air-lift study laid <strong>the</strong> foundation for <strong>the</strong> European <strong>Air</strong>lift Co-ordination Cell (EACC) in
Eindhoven. 672 Although EACC had been very successful in co-ordinating air transport <strong>and</strong>
AAR activities among European <strong>Air</strong> Group members, in terms of both operational <strong>and</strong>
financial aspects, <strong>the</strong> need to fur<strong>the</strong>r develop EACC soon became obvious. As a result, <strong>the</strong>
EACC transformed into <strong>the</strong> European <strong>Air</strong>lift Centre (EAC) on 1 July 2004. In contrast to
EACC, <strong>the</strong> EAC has a broader scope of planning authority <strong>and</strong> responsibilities including
conceptual developments <strong>and</strong> training. 673
Unlike o<strong>the</strong>r European states, for which transferring national sovereignty into a multilateral
framework is a more sensitive issue, Germany would have been prepared
immediately to transfer national authority in <strong>the</strong> field of airlift <strong>and</strong> directly to establish
an independent European <strong>Air</strong> Transport Comm<strong>and</strong>. 674 In May 2007, Germany, France,
Belgium <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Ne<strong>the</strong>rl<strong>and</strong>s finally signed an agreement. The air forces of <strong>the</strong>se countries
will participate in <strong>the</strong> European <strong>Air</strong> Transport Comm<strong>and</strong>, which is supposed to reach
initial operational capability in early 2009. 675 This multi-lateral approach will provide each
of <strong>the</strong>se countries with an unprecedented surge capability, as it will pool more than one
hundred <strong>Air</strong>bus A400Ms from Germany, France, <strong>and</strong> Belgium. 676 Given its participation
in <strong>the</strong> European <strong>Air</strong> Transport Comm<strong>and</strong>, <strong>the</strong> Ne<strong>the</strong>rl<strong>and</strong>s might join <strong>the</strong> A400M
programme as well. While critics argue that <strong>the</strong> A400M is not really a strategic air-lifter, 677
it has a truly strategic range of up to 6,500 kilometres <strong>and</strong> can operate from semi-prepared
strips. Its cargo compartment can load – apart from main battle tanks – a variety of large
vehicles as well as medium-sized helicopters such as <strong>the</strong> Cougar. 678 Against <strong>the</strong> backdrop
of sustained out-of-area operations in Afghanistan <strong>and</strong> elsewhere, co-operation in <strong>the</strong>
field of military airlift will significantly enhance European power projection capabilities.
Conclusions
The rapid deployment <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> sustained presence of European air power detachments
show that Europe can make relevant contributions to current operations in Afghanistan
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<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>, <strong>Insurgency</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> “War on Terror”