The European Air Group Steering Group, comprising the Chiefs of Staff or their representatives of the
Air Forces of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom, met
in Madrid in Spain on 19 May.
The Steering Group is the highest governance body for the European Air Group and meets annually to
provide direction and guidance for its work. This meeting was hosted by General del Aire Javier Salto,
Chief of Staff of the Spanish Air Force, and was chaired by Lieutenant General Dennis Luyt, Commander
of the Royal Netherlands Air Force and Director of the European Air Group.
The aim of the Steering Group Meeting was to discuss the progress of current European Air Group
projects in order to shape their future development. The Air Chiefs discussed and provided national
perspectives on the following topics:
- Cross Maintenance of Member Nations’ Aircraft.
- Lessons from the Multinational Response to the War in Ukraine.
- National View on Operational Training Infrastructure and Opportunities for coordinating
Major National Exercises. - Multinational vs National Approach to Rapid Air Power Projection.
- Challenges affecting EAG Project Engagement.
The outcomes of this meeting will be put into effect by the EAG Permanent Staff and specialists from
the seven Nations during the coming year and beyond.
The EAG undertakes projects and studies to identify realistic ways to improve interoperability
between member nations. It coordinates the development of Technical Arrangements that are legally
endorsed and produces handbooks and planning guides that enable enhanced interoperability. The
EAG trials its products and procedures under the auspices of the VOLCANEX series of exercises. The
EAG currently engages across a portfolio of projects, based around 4 four core pillars: Air Operations,
Force Protection, Logistics / AvMed, and CIS. The EAG was a catalyst for the creation of the European
Air Transport Command (EATC) and the European Personnel Recovery Centre (EPRC) which provide
concrete examples of interoperability success stemming from EAG projects. More recent success has
been the adoption by NATO of the EAG-developed Force Protection C2 handbook and the adoption
by the French Air Force of the EAG’s Air Mobile Protection TeamHandbook.
