Airforces Monthly - February 2017

EXERCISE REPORT Black Blade 2016
Honing the
BLACK BLADE is one of the
more significant rotary-wing
exercises in the European
Defence Agency (EDA) calendar,
being part of the organisation’s
Helicopter Exercise Programme
(HEP). Belgium hosted the
event between November
14 and December 2, 2016,
marking not only the country’s
recurrent commitment as an
EDA member state (MS) but also
a decade of Blade exercises.
The long-running series
recognises how rotary-wing
elements can influence critical
combat operations, and the
need to sharpen co-operation
between European Union
allies. Whereas the relatively
modest Cold Blade hosted in
Finland earlier in 2016 catered
for specific national training
requirements, Black Blade was
all about special operations
forces (SOF), and offered a
more formal tactical course.
Flight training was carried out
in the vicinity of Florennes air
base in special low-flying zones
and stemmed from a December
2015 planning conference in
Budapest. EDA Chief Executive
Jorge Domecq commented: “The
tenth edition of the Helicopter
Exercise Programme comes
at a moment when European
defence is high on the political
agenda. The tenth edition is a
milestone for this programme,
the EDA and the member states
involved. Exercise Black Blade is
European defence co-operation
in action. It represents a
dynamic and tangible example
of what co-operation among
member states can achieve. It
also highlights the importance
of joint training as a prerequisite
to enhance interoperability
and a key enabler to ensure
readiness to deploy.”
Special forces
More than 400 personnel
contributed to the 2016 event.
A total of 13 helicopters were
provided by Austria, Belgium
and Slovenia, plus one Falcon 20
aircraft from Cobham Aviation
Services in the UK. As well
as the flying elements, Black
54 FEBRUARY 2017 #347
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