EDA helicopter programmes transition to the Multinational Helicopter Training Centre

Like every romance, the European Defence Agency’s association with helicopters had its moments of heartbreak. While the growing success of EDA’s ‘Blade’ exercises captured attention with awe-inspiring photos of European choppers in the sky, things could get rocky on the ground.

At the end of 2018, Britain told the Agency it was closing the airbase used by EDA for all its ground and simulator training. Britain itself was going through a divorce, leaving the European Union in 2020 after almost five decades of partnership. For EDA, that meant there was no possibility of relocating to another British airbase. EDA’s helicopter simulator was also judged to be obsolete, needing to be replaced just when funding for the helicopter training programme was running out faster than expected. To top it off, EDA’s relocation of its training centre to Sintra in Portugal took place early 2020 in the midst of a global pandemic.

“The problems kept on accumulating,” says Romera. “No simulator, no airbase and a lack of funding. Then COVID came along.”

In fact, EDA’s ability to organise the Hot Blade exercise in Portugal’s Beja Airbase in June 2021 – after one cancelled exercise in 2020 due to the pandemic – and the Helicopter Tactics Instructors Course in August 2021 – following two years of cancellations –, proved critical. There were still strict travel restrictions in Europe and bringing together hundreds of military personnel for a major multinational exercise was a real challenge.

“In my heart, I feel this was our most important year. Without those achievements, the helicopter programmes would have entered a spiral that might have had a major impact on the three programmes and the future Multinational Helicopter Training Centre (MHTC),” Romera says.

Looking back, it was already clear that EDA’s helicopter training had proved its value to participating Member States and was worth saving. Born out of shortcomings identified after European military support missions in Afghanistan and the Balkans, and with no equivalent in NATO, the training is still relevant today.

The rapid evolution of helicopter tactics, especially after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, requires crews to constantly adapt and update their skills. This includes a swift increase in air defence threats that create high risk areas for helicopter operations. With a surge in the use of drones, the traditional roles of helicopters are changing, and Europe must keep up.

What’s more, some Member States are shifting from Soviet-era helicopters to newer Western models. This transformation is not only time-consuming but also resource-intensive, adding another layer of complexity to helicopter training and operations.

It hurts to say goodbye

With the EDA training programmes having been run from Britain since 2011, Germany and Portugal both offered in 2019 to host a permanent training centre with a new simulator capacity. That simulator was no longer owned by EDA, but offered by our contractor Inzpire Ltd for a three- year lease, and to be deployed anywhere in the EU.

Portugal’s offer as host nation proved itself, as it would make for an easier transition to the MHTC, scheduled for the end of 2023.

Following this decision, the process of relocating to Sintra started early 2020. The equipment was transported to Sintra in May 2020, and the construction of the simulator was completed in September, while Europe was still under strict COVID restrictions. EDA initiated its inaugural course on 5 October 2020.

Not everything had been resolved, however. Britain was out of the programmes, and so were its qualified instructors, who in the past had made up a large contingent of trainers. The change of location to Portugal and Hungary required reworking mission scenarios, performing fresh coordination with Members States who host the flying phases of training, and ensuring the needed operational and logistics support to the training activities, including the annual Blade exercise and the HTIC.

The performance of the seventh Helicopter Tactics Instructors Course (HTIC) 2021 was a major challenge, considering the recent relocation of the course’s ground and flying phases from Britain and Sweden to Portugal and Hungary, and that there was a two-year gap in the HTIC delivery. This resulted in a HTIC where there was no proper handover, the instructor cadre changed and there was loss of know-how. In addition, all the flying procedures had to be written specifically for this course. With no formal handover of tactics and procedures, specially for the flying phase, the helicopter training community was in unknown territory.

“Considering that you need about a year to prepare for each Blade exercise and HTIC, the challenge in 2021 was immense,” Romera says. “Our chief instructors from Austria and Sweden, with the support of other national and industry instructors, really went above and beyond, stepping in to give our training a new life post-Brexit,” he adds.

The next 15 years

The story has a happy ending, with the ninth HTIC 2023 in October going ahead, just as the Blade series also continued. Hot Blade 2021 and 2023, and Fire Blade 2022, were delivered successfully.

Overall, since 2009 EDA has conducted 17 Blade exercises across 11 different European locations. These have seen the participation of nearly 340 helicopters, 2,325 aircrew members and approximately 15,000 military personnel. Portugal has hosted one-third of these exercises, six in total and known as Hot Blade, solidifying its status as a major European hub for helicopter training.

If all goes as planned, the MHTC in Portugal is anticipated to become a European benchmark for multinational military helicopter training. The centre has a lifespan of 15 years, extendable for an additional 15-year period. It also has a pre-agreed 10-year schedule for Blade exercises, spanning from 2024 to 2033.

“We’ve come a long way. Seeing crews emerge from a helicopter, drenched in sweat after the demanding training, really makes you realise they have been out of their comfort zone,” says Romera. “You might say EDA was also out of its comfort zone, but we’ve been successful. The story goes on, this time in Portugal with the MHTC.”