The EAG had a very busy month in February 24, aiming to deliver Agile Combat Employment (ACE) from a European perspective
First of all, members of the EAG PS were welcomed to Lithuania by the Chief of Air Staff, Colonel Ananas Matutis, at the Air Force Headquarters in Kaunas. Following the traditional exchanging of gifts, the teams discussed the upcoming Air Ground Equipment compatibility trials at Siauliai Airbase involving Lithuania, Belgium, France and the United States. The CAS was keen to learn more about the EAG and its ongoing ACE enabling projects.
After that event, members of the EAG PS led a multinational team at Siauliai Airbase in Lithuania, undertaking Air Ground Equipment trials between Belgium, France and the United States. This was part of the ACE work that the EAG is undertaking in conjunction with NATO AIRCOM. The Belgian F-16s and French Mirage 2000s were in country to conduct Baltic Air Policing, whilst this was the first opportunity for the United States to test its pre-positioned aircraft equipment against ‘foreign’ NATO aircraft. The successful trials highlighted a number of compatibilities between the three nations, and a number of areas for further study. Sqn Ldr Michael Neaves (GBR RAF), the project lead for the EAG, deemed the trials “a runaway success” and promised “that there was far more to come from this exciting ACE enabling work” as the team looks to widen the trial’s scope to include all NATO nations. This was also the first opportunity that the team had had to look at the Host Nation support equipment in situ at Siauliai, a great deal of which was compatible with number of NATO combat aircraft. If this is seen to be replicated across the other Baltic States, it will save deploying nations a great deal of space and weight in logistics footprints going forward.
