Greece join European air transport training programme and C-27J grouping
Greece has joined C-27J Spartan Cooperation programme which also includes the Italian Air Force. (Photo: Leonardo)
Greece ordered 12 C-27J transport aircraft from Lockheed Martin in 2002 with an option for a further three. So far, eight have been delivered under the contract and the country has now joined a European grouping to support users.
Greece has become the sixth member of the European Defence Agency’s (EDA’s) C-27J Spartan Cooperation programme and the 19th member of the EDA’s Multilateral Air Transport Training and Exercises Initiative.
Greece has joined the Technical Arrangement (TA) regarding Multilateral Air Transport Training and Exercises, an initiative launched in May 2018 which aims to streamline and enhance training and exercise opportunities among EDA member states. It also attempts to prevent cumbersome processes involved in drafting individual agreements for each training and exercise event.
Greece has joined Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Germany, Spain, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia in the training programme.
The upcoming European Spartan Exercise 2024, which will mark the first participation of a Hellenic Air Force aircraft, will take place in Romania from 30 September to 11 October 2024. Previous exercises were held in Romania in 2023 and Bulgaria in 2022.
The C-27J programme has focused on areas such as equipment improvement, training, operational harmonisation and increased fleet availability through optimised logistics solutions.
It has brought together Bulgaria, Italy, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and now Greece, and has been encouraging the exchange of data and collaboration among European operators to achieve common objectives while avoiding duplication of efforts.
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