Four Allies adopt common approach to Special Operations Aviation training
Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia on Saturday (17 September 2016) signed a Letter of Intent concerning “The Creation of a Multinational Special Aviation Training Solution”. This multinational arrangement will provide the signatories with a complete training capability to generate and sustain their Special Operations Aviation units. Special Operations Aviation units are primarily responsible for inserting and extracting elite combat units from operational areas.
Bulgarian, Croatian, Hungarian and Slovenian Chiefs of Defence sign Letter of Intent
In June 2015 the Bulgarian, Croatian, Hungarian, and Slovenian Defence Ministers launched a broader cooperation initiative in the area of Special Operations Aviation. The participants expressed, through this overarching framework, their commitment to investigate opportunities for cooperation in support of creating new Special Operations Aviation units. Today’s agreement, signed by the four Chiefs of Defence, constitutes the first major milestone in this context with Allies adopting a multinational approach for satisfying the full range of the training requirements for their specialized aviation units.
The signatories expect substantial cost savings and increases in interoperability as a result of addressing their training needs together as a group. The effort is supported by the NATO Special Operations Headquarters and the mentor nation, the United States. Moving forward, the four Allies will continue to explore the feasibility of similar arrangements in other areas essential for the provision of fully functional Special Operations Aviation units, such as acquisition, logistical support, or infrastructure.
This agreement also further validates NATO’s approach of triggering high impact multinational cooperation efforts by facilitating the creation of overarching cooperation frameworks.