Strategic Airlift Capability

Strategic Airlift Capability
active	September 23, 2008 to date
Country	Bulgaria Estonia Hungary Lithuania Netherlands Norway Poland Romania Slovenia United States Finland Sweden; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Branch of service	Air transport
Type	Air Transport Squadron
Strength	131
Seat	Pápa Air Force Base , Hungary
management
Commander Heavy Airlift Wing	Col. James S. Sparrow, USAF
Vice Commander Heavy Airlift Wing	Överste Peder Söderström, SAF
Aircraft
Transport aircraft / ; helicopter	3 C-17 Globemaster III

The Strategic Airlift Capability is a multinational initiative with the aim of giving participating nations access to military strategic air transport. The ten NATO states Bulgaria , Estonia , Hungary , Lithuania , the Netherlands , Norway , Poland , Romania , Slovenia and the United States of America and the two Partnership for Peace (PfP) nations Finland and Sweden are involved .

history

On September 12, 2006, the thirteen NATO member states Bulgaria, the Czech Republic , Denmark , Estonia, Italy , Latvia , Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia , Slovenia and the United States of America officially stated in a Letter of Intent (LOI) their intention to develop a joint strategic airlift capability. Three to four C-17 transport aircraft were to be stationed at Ramstein Air Base .

On September 23, 2008, the ten NATO states (the Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Latvia and Slovakia were no longer involved; Norway was added) and the two PfP nations Finland and Sweden signed the SAC Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which the SAC program formally began. This MOU was the basis for the establishment of the SAC Steering Board , which has overall program responsibility, and the establishment of the multinational task force, the Heavy Airlift Wing, at the Pápa Airbase in Hungary. The NATO Airlift Management Organization (NAMO), responsible for the procurement of the SAC's aircraft, as well as their management and logistical support, was set up on September 29, 2008.

The training of multinational aircraft crews and support personnel has been carried out since March 2009, in July 2009 the first C-17 was taken over by the manufacturer Boeing and a provisional operational readiness was established, in September and October 2009 the second and third aircraft followed.

So far, the SAC has carried out flights in support of KFOR and ISAF as well as in the context of humanitarian aid after the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 .

assignment

SAC is one of three complementary initiatives by NATO to improve its strategic airlift capability. In addition to SAC, the Strategic Airlift Interim Solution (SALIS) was set up and various national procurement programs initiated. The SAC is generally open to other participants.

The SAC's transport aircraft can be used for missions of NATO, UN or EU and for other assignments, for example in the context of disaster relief . The flight hours usable by the nations and the filling of posts depends on the respective financial participation. For example, the USA bears around 30 percent of the costs and can therefore use around 30 percent of the annual flight hours. They also bring in around 30 percent, i.e. 41, of the 131 service posts of the Einsatzverband.

Diagram showing the distribution of costs within the SAC (2015)

As practiced, for example, in the NATO AWACS association in Geilenkirchen or at the European Air Transport Command in Eindhoven , command of the HAW and other management positions within the member nations are changed based on the distribution of flight hours (and thus the budget).

organization

NATO Airlift Management (NAM) programs

In the course of the NATO agency reform, the NATO Airlift Management Organization (NAMO) and thus also its executive body, the NATO Airlift Management Agency (NAMA), was dissolved as such on July 1, 2012 and the program became the NATO Support Organization (NSPO) integrated. The NAM program, under the leadership of a program director, is responsible for the procurement, management and logistical support of the aircraft and other material of the SAC program on behalf of the participating nations. It employs around 35 people at its main location in Capellen, Luxembourg, which is also the location of the NSPO, as well as in offices at the Pápa Air Base and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (AFB) in the USA.

Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW)

The SAC's multinational flying task force, the Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW), which has been stationed at the Pápa air base in Hungary since October 2008 , comprises around 135 people from the participating nations. The union leader is currently the USA, whose representative comes from Sweden. The HAW is not subject to the NATO command structure . The association consists of a management element, a deployment and a support team:

Command And Control Branch : The leadership element, the Command And Control Branch, began its work in October 2008 with the development of basic documents, organization and procedures. Today it is responsible for the planning and management of the SAC's C-17 operations. Personnel from Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden and the USA are used for these tasks.
Heavy Airlift Squadron : The tasks of the task force, the Heavy Airlift Squadron (HAS), include, in addition to carrying out flight operations, among other things, mission preparation through threat analyzes and planning of operational tactics, training and standardization. The crews of the C-17 of the SAC are trained for the entire range of operations of the aircraft, including tactical approaches and departures under threat, refueling in the air and the transport of the wounded. The flight operations are carried out with mixed multinational crews. The initial training of pilots and load masters on the C-17 takes place at the USAF at Altus AFB in Altus , Oklahoma, USA.
Logistics Support Squadron : The Logistics Support Squadron (LSS) provides logistical and technical support for flight operations, including the maintenance of HAW vehicles and air handling. The LSS is supported by a contractual arrangement, the C-17 Globemaster III Sustainment Partnership (GSP) by the manufacturing company Boeing, which employs around 70 people at the Pápa air base.

Aircraft

Address by John Zazworsky when handing over the first C-17 to the SAC program

The task force is equipped with three C-17 Globemaster III , a strategic air transport aircraft from the Boeing company . In terms of configuration and equipment, the aircraft correspond to the C-17s that are being delivered to the US Air Force (Boeing C-17, Block 17). The equipment with a self-protection system against infrared guided anti-aircraft missiles (Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures - LAIRCM), analogous to those of the USAF, is intended. The C-17 are registered in Hungary and carry the cockade of the Hungarian Air Force .

Commanders

Surname	Rank	nationality	Beginning	The End
John Zazworsky	Colonel ( USAF )	United States	June 12, 2008	June 17, 2011
Keith P. Boone	Colonel (USAF)	United States	June 17, 2011	June 12th, 2013
Frank Rombouts	Kolonel ( KLu )	Netherlands	June 12th, 2013	July 1, 2015
Trevor Nitz	Colonel (USAF)	United States	July 1, 2015	6th July 2017
Bjørn Gohn-Hellum	Colonel ( RNoAF )	Norway	6th July 2017	June 28, 2019
James S. Sparrow	Colonel (USAF)	United States	Since June 28, 2019

Web links

Official website of the Heavy Airlift Wing
"Strategic Airlift Capability - A key capability for the Alliance" on the NATO website

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Heavy Airlift Wing: Wing Leadership. Heavy Airlift Wing, accessed July 9, 2017 .
^ NATO moves to acquire C-17 strategic airlift aircraft. NATO, September 12, 2006, accessed February 12, 2012 .
↑ NAMSO, NAMSA and Their place in NATO. NATO / NAMSA, accessed February 12, 2012 .
^ ^A ^b Wim Das, Koos Heemskerk, Kees Otten: Multi-national C-17 . In: Air Forces Monthly . Key Publishing, Stamford February 2012, p. 72 ff . (English).
↑ ^a ^b Strategic Airlift Capability. Allied Command Operations. NATO, accessed February 12, 2012 .
^ JD Griffin, First Lieutenant (Oberleutnant, USAF): Multinational Strategic Airlift Capability supports NATO committee visit to Afghanistan. United States Air Force, October 16, 2009, accessed February 12, 2012 .
↑ John D. Zazworsky Jr. (PDF; 80 kB) Biography. Department of Defense, accessed February 12, 2012 .
^ ^A ^b Colonel Trevor Nitz Assumed Command of the Strategic Airlift Capability Heavy Airlift Wing. Heavy Airlift Wing, July 1, 2015, accessed September 29, 2015 .
^ Change of command at the Heavy Airlift Wing. Heavy Airlift Wing, July 7, 2017, accessed July 9, 2017 .
↑ 10 year Anniversary and Change of command at the Heavy Airlift Wing. Heavy Airlift Wing, June 28, 2019, accessed September 19, 2019 .

[lead-1] A ^b Heavy Airlift Wing: Wing Leadership. Heavy Airlift Wing, accessed July 9, 2017 .

[2] NATO moves to acquire C-17 strategic airlift aircraft. NATO, September 12, 2006, accessed February 12, 2012 .

[3] NAMSO, NAMSA and Their place in NATO. NATO / NAMSA, accessed February 12, 2012 .

[afm-02-2012-4] A ^b Wim Das, Koos Heemskerk, Kees Otten: Multi-national C-17 . In: Air Forces Monthly . Key Publishing, Stamford February 2012, p. 72 ff . (English).

[ACO_Homepage-5] Strategic Airlift Capability. Allied Command Operations. NATO, accessed February 12, 2012 .

[6] JD Griffin, First Lieutenant (Oberleutnant, USAF): Multinational Strategic Airlift Capability supports NATO committee visit to Afghanistan. United States Air Force, October 16, 2009, accessed February 12, 2012 .

[zazbio-7] John D. Zazworsky Jr. (PDF; 80 kB) Biography. Department of Defense, accessed February 12, 2012 .

[nitz-8] A ^b Colonel Trevor Nitz Assumed Command of the Strategic Airlift Capability Heavy Airlift Wing. Heavy Airlift Wing, July 1, 2015, accessed September 29, 2015 .

[9] Change of command at the Heavy Airlift Wing. Heavy Airlift Wing, July 7, 2017, accessed July 9, 2017 .

[10] 10 year Anniversary and Change of command at the Heavy Airlift Wing. Heavy Airlift Wing, June 28, 2019, accessed September 19, 2019 .