Nine European air forces havesigned a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to begin the Advanced European Jet Pilot Training (AEJPT)feasibility study.
Belgium, Finland, France,Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland signed the MoU. Austria and Greece could also join the group.
The study is considered the first step towards two programmes: Eurotraining - a combined pilot training system; and Eurotrainer, the development of a new advanced trainer aircraft.
Due to force reductions, many European nations are not training enough aircrew to sustain national programmes, and Eurotraining is seen as an opportunity to create a single system operating from more than one country across the continent. An integrated system, Eurotraining would include ground-based training system and support system management.
Eurotrainer would replace the BAE Systems Hawk and Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet. These elderly types have old-fashioned cockpits rather than the "glass" cockpits of fighters such as the Dassault Rafale and Eurofighter, requiring some fundamental training to be performed on the frontline aircraft.
Eurotraining and Eurotrainer are expected to be provided by consortia made up of companies from each participating country. This complexity has led to concerns, say industry sources, that neither programme will be available in time for some participants to replace their current training systems.
The programmes have already suffered one setback with the withdrawal of the UK.
Source: Flight International
