European air forces should consider establishing co-operative airlift "capability packages" to provide a faster response to major international disasters and humanitarian crises, says German air force Brig Gen Joachim Wundrak, deputy director of the seven-nation European Air Group. Operational demands are already placing pressure on the availability of scarce airlift assets for many Western air forces, limiting their options to respond to major incidents, he warns.
Wundrak says shortfalls in heavy airlifters and large helicopters are already a problem for European air forces, and that significantly improved co-operative planning is required to ensure that high-quality aid supplies can be delivered as rapidly and efficiently as possibly.
"Scarce assets like [Boeing] C-17s or large helicopters will only be made available by the owner nations for short terms following a very sharp prioritisation process against parallel-running military operations and needs," Wundrak told the Royal Aeronautical Society's Aviation Support in Relief Operations conference in London on 25 September.
Lessons from how European nations responded to the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 and the Pakistan earthquake in 2005 show that while existing co-operation efforts can be effective, mobilisation times can be slow and this can cost lives. The unpredictable nature of such events means chaos will surround all relief operations and prevent highly detailed military planning from taking place in their early phases, he said.
"In the absence of a formal force generation process it could be helpful if groups of nations agreed to build common capability packages. This gives smaller nations a fair chance to contribute with small supporting elements or to reuse equipment, and relieves the larger nations from providing the whole package." Examples could include providing loading teams for tactical transports or large helicopters, plus air traffic control elements, headquarters or liaison personnel.
There is also considerable scope for groups of nations to support a common disaster reconnaissance party by providing shared data assessments in an effort to reduce demands for landing slots, transport facilities and lines of communication in a disaster-affected region, he said.
"If your criteria of success for your contribution to an air bridge is how many aircraft you make available you might end up with very bad utilisation because nobody is organising the air bridge properly, running the airport or providing a capable unloading and distribution organisation." Multinational logistics arrangements are being developed within NATO, Wundrak said, but further work is needed to translate this into mechanisms that could support relief operations.
The European Air Group comprises the air forces of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK.
Source: Flight International
