Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2015 to Question 20110, what specific benefits the UK derives from membership of (a) the European Defence Agency’s Military Airworthiness Authorisation Forum, (b) European Defence Agency helicopter training programmes and (c) the Single European Sky initiative.
Mr Julian Brazier
The Military Airworthiness Authorisation Forum (MAWA) improves military aviation safety, reduces military air system acquisition costs, and increases interoperability through harmonisation of military airworthiness regulations. Significant cost savings in the Eurofighter Typhoon programme are likely because of MAWA work led by the UK, and our active involvement in the MAWA Forum provides the UK a position of influence across the Military aviation community.
The helicopter training programmes carried out under the European Defence Agency include Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK, and have derived unprecedented levels of interoperability.
Using standard operating procedures, derived in large part from UK methods, several hundred helicopter aircrew from across Europe have been exposed to, instructed in, and are now following the same procedures as UK aircrew. This means that future operations, be it under NATO, EU, or other coalition – are being de-risked through increased ability and greater interoperability. Our forces can use other nations’ helicopters safely, including for medical evacuation, confident of their in-combat ability while operating in the same manner as UK assets.
The Single European Sky and Air Traffic Management Research programme is analysing the implications for military operations of new legislation and equipment upgrade programmes supporting increased commercial aviation out to 2035.
