On 15 February 2022, General Mille, Chief of Staff of the Air and Space Force, welcomed Major General Schick, Commander EATC, for bilateral talks.
General Mille thanked his counterpart for the excellent and professional service provided by EATC to the French Air Force. The generals discussed EATC’s initiative to foster interoperability and cross-maintenance among the A400M user nations, as well as how the French Air Force can support this lighthouse project beyond a common exercice. Furthermore they exchanged on the newly set-up French-German C-130J unit with regard to EATC’s experience to work with multinational units, such as the MMU.
The Commander EATC also met with Lieutenant-General Bellanger, Commander Strategic Air Forces**. General Bellanger informed that France will receive a seventh A330 MRTT Phoenix this coming summer. He highlighted the newly acquired multirole dimension of the MRTTs, offering with its enlarged and valuable capabilities a new and broader perspective to his command and the French Armed Forces. Soon, the French MRTT fleet ramp up also allows an enhanced availability for strategic transport missions under EATC authority. The interlocutors concluded their meeting discussing the functional harmonisation between EATC’s A330 MRTT user nations, Spain the MMU and France.
* Multinational MRTT (multirole tanker transport) Unit
** CFAS- Commandement des forces aériennes strategiques