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Strategic airlift
Updated: 07 March 2024
Effective strategic airlift capabilities are vital to ensuring that NATO Allies and partners are able to deploy their forces and equipment rapidly to wherever they are needed. That is why some NATO Allies and partners are pooling their resources to enable the Alliance to benefit from commonality, interoperability and economies of scale.
The Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) maximises efforts through the sharing of resources and pooling of capacity among its 12 participating countries.
- By pooling resources, NATO countries benefit from economies of scale and have the potential to acquire assets collectively that would be prohibitively expensive for individual countries to purchase.
- There are currently three initiatives aimed at providing the Alliance and participating partner countries with strategic airlift capabilities: the Strategic Airlift International Solution (SALIS) initiative, the Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) and the Multinational Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) Fleet (MMF).
- All programmes offer versatile and flexible capabilities, including providing support to NATO operations and missions; transporting medical aid; conducting civilian and military patient evacuations; transporting civilian and military equipment; delivering humanitarian relief after disasters; and providing air-to-air refuelling.
- NATO's strategic airlift initiatives have included close cooperation with other international organisations, including the European Union (EU), the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU).
- In addition to these collective efforts, there are national procurement programmes in place to improve airlift capabilities, including the acquisition of 180 Airbus A400M aircraft by Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Türkiye and the United Kingdom; and the purchase by Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States of Boeing C-17s for national use.
Strategic Airlift International Solution (SALIS)
The SALIS contract provides participating countries with assured access to Antonov AN-124-100 aircraft, capable of carrying up to 120 tons of cargo.
Context
The Strategic Airlift International Solution (SALIS) is a Support Partnership of nine countries chartering Antonov AN-124-100 aircraft, providing assured access to up to five aircraft – three of them mission-ready within a few days in case of crisis and an additional two subject to availability – in support of national, NATO and EU operations and missions.
A Support Partnership – managed by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) – is a multinational cooperation mechanism established on the initiative of two or more NATO member countries wishing to organise common support and services activities.
In October 2021, the NSPA signed a five-year contract with Antonov Logistics Salis, a company based in Germany. It replaces the previous SALIS contracts, of which the last one ended in December 2021. In addition to the AN-124 aircraft, the current contract also provides cargo capacity on other large cargo aircraft, including the IL-76 (ICAO Chapter IV), subject to availability.
Under this contract, SALIS participating countries are provided with assured access to strategic airlift capability for outsized cargo based on agreed quota of flight hours per year.
Components
The SALIS contract provides assured access to one Antonov AN-124-100 aircraft on 72 hours' notice, access to an additional aircraft on six days' notice, to an additional AN-124-100 aircraft on nine days' notice and to two additional AN-124-100 subject to availability. The consortium countries have committed to using the aircraft for a minimum of 1,500 flight hours per year. In 2022, a total of 2,103 flight hours were provided through the SALIS contract.
A single Antonov AN-124-100 can carry up to 120 tons of cargo. SALIS participating countries have used Antonov aircraft in the past to transport equipment to and from Afghanistan, deliver aid to the victims of the October 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, and airlift African Union peacekeepers in and out of Darfur.
The SALIS is used by its participating countries almost on a daily basis in national, NATO and EU operations and missions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the SALIS played a vital role in helping participating countries transport urgently needed medical equipment. The SALIS also helped some participating countries evacuate equipment during the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan in 2021. It is currently supporting participating countries to deliver equipment to NATO's multinational battlegroups in Central and Eastern Europe, reinforcing NATO's military presence in the east of the Alliance.
Participants
The consortium consists of nine NATO Allies: Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Mechanisms
The capability is coordinated on a day-to-day basis by the Strategic Airlift Coordination Cell, which is co-located with the Movement Coordination Centre Europe (MCCE) based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
NSPA manages the SALIS contract on behalf of the participating countries and provides support to the SALIS Support Partnership.
Evolution
- In June 2003, NATO Defence Ministers signed letters of intent on strategic air- and sealift.
- In January 2006, 15 countries tasked the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (now the NATO Support and Procurement Agency) to sign a contract with Ruslan SALIS GmbH, a joint venture between the Russian company Volga-Dnepr Airlines and the Ukrainian company (formerly) Antonov Design Bureau, based in Leipzig, Germany.
- In March 2006, the 15 original signatories were joined by Sweden at a special ceremony in Leipzig to mark the entry into force of the multinational contract. This also marked the launch of the Strategic Airlift Interim Solution (SALIS) initiative in order to ensure strategic airlift for consortium countries until a long-term procurement solution could be found. The contract's initial duration was for three years. Finland and Poland also joined the SALIS programme.
- The SALIS contract was re-competed in 2012, and Ruslan SALIS GmbH was awarded a new contract (2013/2014). The SALIS contract was renewed and then expired at the end of December 2016.
- At the end of 2016, SALIS countries signed a memorandum of understanding that established the Strategic Airlift International Solution as a consortium with 10 countries.
- In December 2016, the NSPA placed two contracts with two companies based at Leipzig-Halle Airport (Antonov SALIS GmbH and Ruslan SALIS GmbH), assuring access to strategic airlift capability for outsized cargo based on agreed quota of flying hours per year. These contracts expired on 31 December 2018.
- Since January 2019, Antonov Logistics Salis is the sole contractor providing assured access to strategic airlift capabilities to the current participating countries.
- In September 2019, the new SALIS Base of Operations was inaugurated at the Antonov Logistics Salis facilities at the Leipzig-Halle airport, marking full operational capability of the new SALIS Base of Operations.
- In October 2021, a new contract was signed between the NSPA and Antonov Logistics Salis. The contract was amended in May 2022, further to the impact of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on the fleet availability and its maintenance capability.
Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC)
The Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) transported 500 humanitarian tents amounting to 30 tons to Incirlik, Türkiye as part of the relief effort after the devastating earthquakes in 2023.
Context
The second initiative aimed at providing NATO Allies and partners with access to strategic airlift is the Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC), which has procured three Boeing Globemaster III C-17 transport aircraft on behalf of a group of 12 NATO Allies.
The first C-17 was delivered in July 2009 with the second and third aircraft following in September and October 2009, respectively. The SAC's operational arm, the military Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW) at the Hungarian Defence Forces 47th Air Base in Pápa, operates the aircraft.
The HAW is operated by military personnel from all SAC countries, and its missions support national requirements. Operations have included support to the International Security Assistance Force (Afghanistan), the Kosovo Force (KFOR), Operation Unified Protector in Libya, humanitarian relief in Haiti and Pakistan, African peacekeeping, and assistance to the Polish authorities following the Smolensk air disaster in Russia. Two humanitarian SAC flights were organised to bring relief to victims in Barbados and Guadalupe in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in 2017.
The SAC also transported essential personal protective equipment to several consortium members during the peak of COVID-19 in 2020. In 2021, SAC deployed flights to Afghanistan to evacuate people (constituting personnel from Allied and partner countries and NATO- and SAC-affiliated Afghan staff and their families) following the collapse of the Afghan government and the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces. In 2022, the SAC transported firefighting units from Romania to France to help fight wildfires.
In response to the devastating earthquakes that struck Türkiye in February 2023, the SAC flew nine missions to transport 340 tons of urgent equipment and personnel to the country on behalf of Finland, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden and the United States.
Components
The Boeing Globemaster III C-17 (nicknamed "The Moose") is one of the world's most versatile cargo aircraft, capable of carrying 77,000 kilogrammes (169,776 pounds) of cargo over 4,450 kilometres (2,400 nautical miles). The aircraft can perform tactical airlift, airdrop missions and aeromedical evacuations in the most difficult environments and austere conditions.
The three planes of the SAC fleet are configured and equipped to the same general standard as C-17s operated by the US Air Force. The crews and support personnel are trained for mission profiles and standards agreed by the participating countries.
These strategic lift aircraft are used to meet national requirements, but could also be allocated for NATO, United Nations and European Union operations and missions, or for other international purposes based on a participating country's request.
Participants
The participants include 12 NATO Allies (Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden and the United States). Membership in the airlift fleet remains open to other countries upon agreement by the consortium members.
Mechanisms
The Multinational SAC Steering Board has the overall responsibility for the governance and oversight of the programme and formulates its requirements. The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) Airlift Management Programme (NAMP) manages and supports the SAC airlift assets and provides administrative support to the Heavy Airlift Wing at Pápa Airbase.
Evolution
- In September 2006, a Letter of Intent to launch contract negotiations was publicly released by 13 NATO countries. In the intervening period, Finland and Sweden joined the consortium and NATO participation evolved to the current 10 members.
- The Charter of a NATO Production and Logistics Organisation (NPLO), which authorised the establishment of the NATO Airlift Management Organisation (NAMO), came into effect in September 2008. The Charter authorised the establishment of the NATO Airlift Management Agency (NAMA), which acquired, managed and supported the airlift assets on behalf of the SAC countries.
- In 2008, 12 countries founded the Strategic Airlift Capability by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
- They agreed to jointly acquire three Globemaster C-17s, to jointly operate them and to share costs, resources and flight hours. SAC countries decided to use NATO as a legal entity for the acquisition, management and sustainment of the aircraft, and for supporting the multinational military Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW) stationed at Pápa Air Base, Hungary.
- Hungary, one of the participating countries, offered to register the aircraft under its insignia and provides a home base for the programme at Pápa Air Base, Hungary.
- On 1 July 2012, the NSPA took over the responsibility of managing and supporting the SAC airlift assets.
- On 14 November 2012, the SAC reached Full Operational Capability.
- In 2016, the programme moved to new facilities at Pápa Airbase in Hungary, including the largest purpose-built C-17 hangar on the continent.
- A new C-17 simulator building is scheduled for construction in 2025.
Multinational Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) Fleet (MMF )
The Multinational Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) Fleet (MMF) provides strategic transport, air-to-air refuelling and medical evacuation capabilities to participating countries.
Context
The Multinational Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) Fleet (MMF) provides strategic transport, air-to-air refuelling and medical evacuation capabilities to participating countries.
The programme is based on a pooling and sharing concept, outlined in a memorandum of understanding in which participating countries pool the aircraft and share costs while benefitting from economies of scale.
The 111 tons basic fuel capacity enables the aircraft to excel in air-to-air refuelling missions without the need for any additional fuel tanks. Moreover, it can provide a maximum fuel flow rate of approximately 2,200 litres a minute, using a boom or a hose and drogue mechanism, and can quickly fuel all of the aircraft in inventory with the MMF countries (F-16, F-35, C-17, Eurofighter, Tornado and Gripen) and most of the other aircraft used within NATO.
The MRTT fleet is one of NATO's High Visibility Projects, whose aim is to leverage commonality of equipment, training, doctrine and procedures to assure economies of scale and interoperability.
Components
The MRTT fleet currently consists of seven aircraft already in service. The delivery of two more aircraft is expected in 2024, while the 10th aircraft will be delivered at the end of 2026.
Participants
Six NATO Allies participate in the MRTT: Belgium, Czechia, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Norway. The MRTT capability also stands out as a unique example of effective cooperation between NATO and the European Union in delivering critical capabilities.
Mechanisms
The fleet is owned by NATO and managed by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). The NSPA MMF team is based at the NSPA headquarters in Capellen, Luxembourg, but others provide support from other locations, including Eindhoven, Cologne-Wahn, Bonn and Getafe. The NSPA provides this support to participating countries through its Multinational Multi Role Tanker Transport Fleet Support Partnership.
The fleet is operated by the Multinational Multirole Tanker Transport Unit (MMU), comprising military personnel from participating countries. The unit is based at the Main Operating Base (MOB) in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and the Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Cologne, Germany.
Evolution
- Following operations in Libya and extensive analyses by the European Defence Agency (EDA), it was agreed at the 2012 NATO Summit in Chicago that the EDA would lead an initiative to address the shortfall in AAR capacity in Europe.
- In 2016, Luxembourg and the Netherlands formally launched the project. Following the project's launch, Germany and Norway joined in 2017, followed by Belgium in 2018 and Czechia in 2019.
- The first Airbus A330 MRTT aircraft was delivered in June 2020.
- In September 2020, the option for more aircraft was turned into a firm order, expanding the MRTT Capability to nine aircraft (with the option for two additional aircraft).
- Seven aircraft have been delivered. The delivery of two more aircraft is scheduled in 2024.
- In 2023, Belgium added 1,000 flight hours to the programme. This resulted in the order of a 10th aircraft.
- In March 2023, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg took part in a ceremony marking Initial Operational Capability of the new MRTT aircraft fleet at Eindhoven Air Base in the Netherlands. This enables the fleet to perform all types of missions (air transport, air-to-air-refuelling and aeromedical evacuation) to meet the full range of national and NATO requirements.
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