Portugal hosts Hot Blade 2012, a multinational helicopter exercise, based at Ovar Military Airfield, near Porto, Portugal. Delivered by the Portuguese Air Force and supported by Luxembourg, Hot Blade 2012 is part of the European Defence Agency's Helicopter Training Program.
Some 2000 military and around 40 aircraft from Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Netherlands and Portugal, plus observers from UK and Sweden, will participate in the Exercise.
Hot Blade 2012 is designed to allow European helicopter crews to practice operations in a hot, high and dusty environment, simulating the challenge and the dynamic conditions that participating forces will encounter when they deploy to a current theatre of operation, taking into consideration the lessons learned from recent scenarios like Afghanistan and Libya.
Ministers of Defence and Ms. Claude-France Arnould will visit HOT BLADE on 12 July. Journalists willing to be accredited are invited to apply here.
For more information, please don't hesitate to contact: info@eda.europa.eu or hotblade@emfa.pt