BRUSSELS — A U.S. Air Force Global Hawk has completed its third flight over Germany under the initiative to reassure NATO members rattled by Russian involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.
Germany has opened its airspace for up to five Global Hawk flights a month until the middle of October 2016. The Sigonella, Sicily-based Global Hawk flies over Italian and French airspace and an air corridor through Germany with its sensors switched off on its way to its area of operations over the Baltic Sea.
The Global Hawk flights are part of the European Reassurance Initiative, which is being executed by U.S. European Command (Eucom) component commands. On March 30 Eucom submitted an implementation plan describing nine-month rotations for armored brigade combat teams beginning in February 2017.
This is part of the Pentagon’s $3.4 billion European Reassurance Initiative request for fiscal 2017, which is being reviewed by the U.S. Congress, a Eucom spokesman said. In addition to increasing Army deployments in Europe to three full brigades and prepositioning equipment in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany for a fourth brigade, a division headquarters, plus support troops, the 2017 ERI request includes $58.6 million to support the rotation of a combat aviation brigade for Eucom missions.
This includes a brigade headquarters, an AH-64 armed reconnaissance squadron, a CH-47 and air medical evacuation general support aviation battalion, a UH-60 assault battalion and an aviation support battalion.
The 2017 ERI request foresees various measures to retain and improve Air Force capabilities in Europe. This includes keeping the 20 F-15Cs of the 493rd Fighter Squadron at RAF Lakenheath originally planned to be withdrawn. Funding is requested to build and upgrade munition storage facilities, improve airfield and support infrastructure, and preposition Air Force equipment such as refueling trucks, tow tractors, cargo loaders, forklifts, and firefighting and rescue vehicles in Eastern Europe. For example, building a two-bay maintenance hangar at Campia Turzii in Romania would allow the air base to accommodate A-10s and F-15s, in addition to F-16s, as is currently the case. Funding proposals for Western Europe include projects to support the rotation of F/A-22 Raptors through Spangdahlem air base in Germany and to accommodate the P-8A in Keflafvik airfield in Iceland.
Funding is also proposed to augment aerial refueling of NATO allies and for air force exercises in Eastern Europe, including for Bulgarian and Romanian participation.