COG/33 – WP/15 18/10/2005 (2 pages) COG33 WP xx EURO Military Airspace Requirements.doc EANPG PROGRAMME COORDINATING GROUP (COG) THIRTY-THIRD MEETING (Paris, France – 24 to 26 October 2005) Agenda Item 5: Planning and implementation issues DETERMINING FUTURE MILITARY AIRSPACE REQUIREMENTS IN EUROPE (Presented by EUROCONTROL) SUMMARY The Military Harmonisation Group of Eurocontrol hereby presents to COG for consideration the Determining Future Military Airspace Requirements in Europe document and recommends it as guidance material for all ICAO States in accordance with ICAO ANConf/11 – Recommendation 1/2. Action by the Meeting is at paragraph 2. 1. Introduction 1.1 Since modern military aircraft and weapons require larger volumes of airspace in order to fully exploit their capabilities, and civil air traffic is expected to increase in the coming years, airspace utilisation has to be optimised to satisfy military and civil needs. This can only be achieved with a new flexible approach towards airspace design and management, which will require airspace planners to be aware of the operational needs of all airspace users. 1.2 In order to provide knowledge and understanding of military airspace requirements within Europe for the routine day to day training of air, sea and ground forces, and taking into account Recommendation 1/2 1 of the ICAO Eleventh Air navigation Conference, the Military Harmonisation Group (MILHAG) 2 developed the Determining Future Military Airspace Requirements in Europe document. 1 ANConf/11, Recommendation 1/2 — Coordination with military authorities; That States take appropriate action to coordinate the global ATM operational concept with their military authorities with a view to achieving maximum cooperation and integration in an effort to implement a flexible and cooperative approach to airspace organization and management. 2 MILHAG is a military-only forum in Eurocontrol to co-ordinate military positions on ATM/CNS issues. It defines, develops and promotes harmonised European military positions on ATM/CNS matters in order to further improve co-ordination within the military community for the benefit of the whole ATM community.
Transcript
COG/33 – WP/15 18/10/2005
(2 pages) COG33 WP xx EURO Military Airspace Requirements.doc
EANPG PROGRAMME COORDINATING GROUP (COG) THIRTY-THIRD MEETING
(Paris, France – 24 to 26 October 2005)
Agenda Item 5: Planning and implementation issues
DETERMINING FUTURE MILITARY AIRSPACE REQUIREMENTS IN EUROPE
(Presented by EUROCONTROL)
SUMMARY The Military Harmonisation Group of Eurocontrol hereby presents to COG for consideration the Determining Future Military Airspace Requirements in Europe document and recommends it as guidance material for all ICAO States in accordance with ICAO ANConf/11 – Recommendation 1/2.
Action by the Meeting is at paragraph 2.
1. Introduction
1.1 Since modern military aircraft and weapons require larger volumes of airspace in order to fully exploit their capabilities, and civil air traffic is expected to increase in the coming years, airspace utilisation has to be optimised to satisfy military and civil needs. This can only be achieved with a new flexible approach towards airspace design and management, which will require airspace planners to be aware of the operational needs of all airspace users.
1.2 In order to provide knowledge and understanding of military airspace requirements within Europe for the routine day to day training of air, sea and ground forces, and taking into account Recommendation 1/21 of the ICAO Eleventh Air navigation Conference, the Military Harmonisation Group (MILHAG)2 developed the Determining Future Military Airspace Requirements in Europe document.
1 ANConf/11, Recommendation 1/2 — Coordination with military authorities; That States take appropriate action to coordinate the global ATM operational concept with their military authorities with a view to achieving maximum cooperation and integration in an effort to implement a flexible and cooperative approach to airspace organization and management. 2 MILHAG is a military-only forum in Eurocontrol to co-ordinate military positions on ATM/CNS issues. It defines, develops and promotes harmonised European military positions on ATM/CNS matters in order to further improve co-ordination within the military community for the benefit of the whole ATM community.
COG/33 – WP/15 – 2 –
COG33 WP xx EURO Military Airspace Requirements.doc
1.3 The document provides airspace managers with planning concepts to accommodate military training and operational activities, which are essential to guarantee the level of capabilities and readiness needed to satisfy national security and defence requirements, including the freedom of movement and enterprise within the respective military area’s of responsibility.
1.4 The document was adopted by the Civil/Military Interface Standing Committee (CMIC) of Eurocontrol and subsequently by the Provisional Council. At its 18th Session the Provisional Council endorsed the document “as guidance by EUROCONTROL Member States and the Agency during the development of ATM and CNS related Projects and Programmes”. The document was updated and approved by CMIC at its September 2005 meeting.
2. Action by the Meeting
2.1 The COG is invited to:
a) note the document “Determining Future Military Airspace Requirements in Europe” and
b) consider the document as a guidance for the ICAO States in the European Region – in accordance with ANConf/11 Recommendation 1/2.
Attachment: Determining Future Military Airspace Requirements in Europe
Military Harmonisation Group ————————————— EUROCONTROL
Page 1
Determining Future Military
Airspace Requirements
In Europe
Reviewed Version
Dated 2005-10-05
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Executive Summary The purpose of this document is to provide a knowledge and understanding of military air-space requirements within Europe for the routine day to day training of air, sea and ground forces. The document will provide airspace managers with planning concepts to accom-modate military training and operational activities, which are essential to guarantee the level of capabilities and readiness needed to satisfy national security and defence requirements, including the freedom of movement and enterprise within the respective military’s area of responsibility. Military aviation plays a vital role for security and defence. Therefore, it is a fundamental requirement that each state is able to train and operate its military forces to enable them to discharge their security and defence responsibilities. For that purpose, the availability of sufficient airspace, and opportunities for military training, forms the fundamental tenet for ready to operate, and capable, military forces. The future ECAC airspace structure will be developed on the basis of the EUROCONTROL Airspace Strategy for those ECAC States. The strategy acknowledges the general defence and security needs of those states and aims at assuring ”adequate and appropriate” airspace for military purposes. Since modern military aircraft and weapons require larger volumes of airspace in order to fully exploit their capabilities, and civil air traffic is expected to increase in the coming years, airspace utilisation has to be optimised to satisfy military and civil needs. This can only be achieved with a new flexible approach towards airspace design and management, which will require airspace planners to be aware of the operational needs of all airspace users. The divergent tasks and nature of the European forces, as well as the variety of airframes and weapons in their inventory, do not allow the introduction of generally standardised air-space requirements for the whole ECAC area. In addition, military requirements hinge on manifold parameters and are therefore more complex and more difficult to quantify than civil requirements. This illustrates the great importance of co-operation between civil and military authorities to best utilise the military ATM-expertise in order to accommodate mili-tary requirements, based on national security needs, inside an air traffic environment with increasing capacity demands. In order to meet these defence and security needs, sufficient airspace must be provided for military utilisation. This leads to the following general requirements:
• To accomplish their missions, military aircraft must be able to operate without re-strictions, in all classes of airspace, at all the times, in accordance with their assigned tasking.
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• In many cases, military activities must be separated from other air traffic in segre-gated airspace.
• Besides the dimension of airspace for military use, the distance from the airbases to their allocated TRAs/TSAs, must be short enough to ensure an economic ratio between transit and training time.
• The TSAs/TRAs used for air combat manoeuvring should generally be under radar -coverage of military air defence units.
• The design of TSAs/TRAs must reflect the regional/national composition and task of forces, and may have to be adjusted whenever new aircraft and weapons are intro-duced.
• Some TSAs/TRAs or portions of them must be “hard-walled” without interference from crossing civil air traffic. Other portions may allow the coexistence of OAT and GAT in the same area at the same time, and will thus permit, where possible, the continuation of civil air traffic flows.
To be able to fulfil the requirements of all European airspace users, the generic military requirements described in this document must be taken into account when redesigning airspace in Europe. To further enhance the utilisation of airspace, especially in respect to capacity improvements, the following should be taken into account:
• Collaborative planning must be improved on the strategic level to increase the op-portunities for airspace sharing, and to explore new methods in the management of airspace in order to increase efficiency, and thus capacity.
• AMCs must increase their efforts to make maximum joint use of finite airspace re-sources through appropriate civil/military co-ordination based on the principle that any necessary segregation of airspace is derived from real usage within a specified time period.
• New simulation systems must be developed that reflect characteristic military airspace requirements.
• The use of common data formats between ATC and air defence units must be ex-ploited.
The full implementation and further enhancement of the FUA Concept is needed as a tool to optimise civil and military airspace usage. The FUA Concept must ensure that military needs are granted priority when determined by essential national security and defence interests. The common goal of all efforts is to meet the requirements of all airspace users to the maximum extent possible. Mutual knowledge, understanding and respect of individual limitations of different airspace users must be the starting point. A commonly acceptable balance in accommodating economy and commerce aspects, as well as defence and security, must be the result.
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Table of Contents 1. Introduction. ..............................................................................................................7 2. Aim............................................................................................................................7 3. Military Operating Principles and Considerations......................................................7 3.1. Flight Safety ...........................................................................................................7 3.2. Self Determination..................................................................................................7 3.3. Manoeuvres ...........................................................................................................7 3.4. Mission Complexity ................................................................................................8 3.5. Airframe..................................................................................................................8 3.6. Fuel Limitation........................................................................................................8 3.7. Equipment..............................................................................................................8 3.8. Performance...........................................................................................................9 3.9. Planning Cycle .......................................................................................................9 3.9.1. Planning ..............................................................................................................9 3.9.2. Current Operations..............................................................................................9 3.9.2.1. Briefing.............................................................................................................9 3.9.2.2. Mission Execution ............................................................................................9 3.9.2.3. Debriefing.........................................................................................................9 3.9.3. Limiting Factors.................................................................................................10 3.9.3.1. Weather..........................................................................................................10 3.9.3.2. Availability ......................................................................................................10 3.9.4. Environmental ...................................................................................................10 4. Airspace Structure...................................................................................................10 4.1. Current Airspace Structure...................................................................................10 4.2. Future Airspace Structure. ...................................................................................11 4.3. Military Airspace Utilisation ..................................................................................11 5. Description of Activities. ..........................................................................................12 5.1. Instruction Flights. ................................................................................................12 5.2. Operational Training Flights .................................................................................12 5.2.1. Air Defence Flights............................................................................................12 5.3. Transit Flights.......................................................................................................12 5.4. Search and Rescue..............................................................................................13 5.5. Patrol Flights ........................................................................................................13 5.6. Special Flights......................................................................................................13 5.7. Others ..................................................................................................................13 5.7.1. Gunnery and Missile Firing Ranges ..................................................................13 5.7.2. Protected Areas ................................................................................................13 5.8. Variety of Airspace Needs....................................................................................13 5.8.1. Air-to-Ground Operations..................................................................................14 5.8.2. Live Flying Exercises ........................................................................................14 5.8.3. Functional Check Flights and Test Flights.........................................................15 5.8.4. Air Shows and Demonstrations .........................................................................15 5.8.5. Air-to-Air Refuelling ...........................................................................................15 5.8.6. UAV's ................................................................................................................15 5.8.7. Others ...............................................................................................................16
DETERMINING FUTURE MILITARY AIRSPACE REQUIREMENTS IN EUROPE. 1. Introduction The purpose of this document is to provide knowledge and understanding of military air-space requirements, in times of peace, for the daily routine training of air, sea and ground forces. It is a national responsibility to provide both basic and advanced operational train-ing for the forces in Europe, for reaching and maintaining the required readiness states and capability levels for national and/or multinational defence and crisis-response operations. Although large-scale multinational exercises and real world operations that use airspace in a peacetime environment are not routine training missions, these requirements will be covered in this document as well. Since military aviation plays a vital role for national security and defence, and is often of paramount importance for operations initiated by international organisations (UN, EU, OSCE, NATO etc.), military flights will take precedence over civil ones in certain situations. The military concedes that civil air traffic is expected to increase in the coming years, re-sulting in a need for additional airspace capacity. However, the military is introducing new aircraft and weapon systems such as “Beyond Visual Range Weapons” and “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles”, which will have an impact on military operations and the resulting military airspace requirements. An overall optimisation is not possible unless airspace planners are aware of the opera-tional requirements of all airspace users. Contrary to civil requirements, military require-ments are complex and difficult to quantify. They differ from state to state, and region to region, and are directly related to the task of the armed forces and the types of aircraft and weapons in their inventory. To optimise the utilisation of available airspace and enhance its capacity, close co-opera-tion and collaborative decision making between all involved civil and military airspace management authorities is a mandatory requirement. 2. Aim The aim of this document is to determine generic military airspace requirements in Europe and to describe “sufficient airspace” in respect to different military purposes within Europe. It should additionally provide airspace managers with strategic planning considerations enabling them to accommodate the military activities required to meet national security and defence objectives within the ECAC airspace. This document can be used as a tool to determine national military airspace requirements. 3. Military Operating Principles and Considerations Governments demand that their military forces be capable, effective and in a position to cope with unpredictable scenarios. To meet these demands, armed forces must ensure that their capabilities and readiness posture are adequate and flexible enough to cope with both current and future known and unknown threats. To achieve these goals and to ensure
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that their aircrews “train as they would fight”, the military’s approach to the utilisation of airspace must also be flexible. ICAO rules, standards and recommendations will be followed where they do not impinge on military operational and training requirements. 3.1. Flight Safety As in civil aviation, flight safety is paramount for all military operations. It is therefore con-tinuously and closely monitored and enforced throughout all military levels. Each crew is trained on all aspects of flight safety and the enhancement of individual safety awareness is a permanent feature throughout their professional flying careers. To foster and improve flight safety in military aviation, each nation or national service has a military flight safety organisation in place. These organisations employ experienced aircrew, technical experts and ATC-personnel as flight safety officers, who have been thoroughly trained in all areas of flight safety, such as accident prevention, accident investigation and reporting. If flight safety is compromised within the military areas of responsibility, areas of concern will be reported to the competent authorities without delay and corrective actions will be taken. 3.2. Self Determination Proceeding on the assumption that air forces must “train as they would fight”, military VFR flights provide the aircrews in the majority of cases with the necessary tactical freedom of operation for the development of collective war-fighting capabilities through realistic day–to-day training and specialised exercises. Furthermore, they provide military aircrews with the essential opportunity to develop the highly demanding individual skills necessary to operate effectively under threat conditions. These skills include: aircraft handling, weapons employment, complete situational awareness and specific capabilities such as quick and accurate problem response, and decision making under stress. In the case of missions where the crew’s workload does not allow for sufficient attention towards other traffic, or in which aerial manoeuvres are not predictable to other traffic, adequate separation must be ensured. Hence, where high pri-ority is given to the self determination of aircrews, the use of segregated airspace will be dictated when operating in dense traffic environments. 3.3. Manoeuvres To ensure that crews are able to exercise their skills and gain the appropriate level of competence and experience necessary to operate successfully in all possible conflict or crisis scenarios, an overall requirement of self-determination is mandatory for many types of mission activities. Self-determination requires the freedom to manoeuvre without restrictions in space and time. As the manoeuvring capabilities of combat aircraft have to be mastered by their crews throughout all flight regimes, and considering that their handling, management and operating characteristics are different in respect to altitude, the opportunity to operate freely is a prerequisite for effective mission-oriented training.
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3.4. Mission Complexity Military missions are complex in nature and should not be influenced by external factors irrelevant to the aim. The high complexity is a result of the requirement to fulfil different operational tasks during one flight. The aircrew, in case of single-seated aircraft only one person, must control the aircraft, navigate, be constantly aware of the current threat scenario, and be ready to execute defensive measures and prepare and execute weapons employment. A high degree of concentration and steady situational awareness is required over a long period of time. Additionally, the high performance of combat aircraft results in heavy physical stress. Due to the high complexity of military missions and their wide variety throughout Europe, quantifying military VFR activities for the entire ECAC region remains impracticable, al-though certainly desirable. Clearly, the use of segregated airspace just for accommodating VFR flights would seem unnecessarily wasteful of a precious resource. Annex 3 illustrates some of the foreseen military airspace utilization. Within the complicated environment of military aviation, the aspect of Crew Resource Management (CRM) must be taken into account. With a view to both training effectiveness and flight safety, it is necessary to keep the airspace structure and the regulations that govern it as simple and understandable as possible. 3.5. Airframe Military aircraft, like civil aircraft have individual aerodynamic and technical characteristics that have an impact on handling and training requirements. 3.6. Fuel Limitation The fuel reserves of high performance jet aircraft are rather limited. Therefore, long tran-sits to training areas will drastically reduce the time available in the training area. Transit flights to an exercise area without the benefit of operational flying skills are inefficient in terms of the crew’s development. Fuel-optimised profiles for transit flights to and from TSAs/TRAs allow the aircrews to spend as much time as possible in the training area. Composite air operations (COMAO) are very complicated and expensive since Air-to-Air Refuelling (AAR) may be required if the transit phase is too long. The fact that not all of today’s aircraft have this AAR capability may make COMAO impossible under such circumstances. 3.7. Equipment For technical or operational reasons, military aircraft cannot always be equipped according to the standards valid for civil aircraft. In many cases, however, the navigational perform-ance achieved by military equipment and techniques is comparable to, or at times better than, the performance required for civil aircraft. Regardless of the equipment level of military aircraft, and extant exemptions from civil equipment requirements, air traffic control standards and their applicability to all aviators, must be maintained.
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3.8. Performance High performance military jet aircraft are extremely agile, when compared with commercial civil aircraft. Steep turns as well as vertical climbs and descents are well within their flying envelope. Because of the superior manoeuvring capabilities of military jet aircraft, it is easier for their crews to stay clear of other traffic. Many manoeuvres executed by military aircraft are unusual and unpredictable for airspace users not familiar with these activities. 3.9. Planning Cycle The planning cycle encompasses the planning, execution (current operations) and evalua-tion (debriefing) of missions. 3.9.1. Planning Air operations are complex and require careful planning. To make the mission successful, the plans must be sufficiently detailed in terms of objective and timing since several types of aircraft from different bases, sometimes from different nations, may participate in the operations. When executing missions, timing is crucial. Although plans aim at flexibility in their execution, timeslots cannot be ignored or rearranged without severe consequences. Last minute changes are seldom possible. Missions must either be flown according to plan or not at all. 3.9.2. Current Operations Day-to-day training missions are carried out according to the phases below. A schematic representation of a mission is provided in Annex 5. 3.9.2.1. Briefing Before commencing the flight, the appropriate mission preparation, flight planning and a mandatory mission briefings have to be accomplished amongst all flight participants. The briefing will cover all relevant aspects of the mission to be flown, such as safety proce-dures, aim of the mission, tactics, timing, communications, code words etc. The briefing may take up to an hour. The briefing items may be updated during the mission execution but must not be subject to substantial changes. 3.9.2.2. Mission Execution The actual mission takes place according to the plan laid out in the above mentioned brief-ing. During the mission, the pilots will in most cases communicate with tactical support units, e.g. with an ACU. 3.9.2.3. Debriefing After the mission, a debriefing will be conducted, which is of vital importance in day-to-day training. It serves to highlight important aspects of the mission such as tactics and flight
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safety issues. The entire briefing, mission execution and debriefing process may take up to 8 hours. 3.9.3. Limiting Factors Different factors such as weather, aircraft availability, airspace availability and environ-mental constraints have an influence on military training missions. 3.9.3.1. Weather Meteorological conditions play a major role in air operations. Take-offs and landings de-pend on the prevailing ceiling and visibility. Moreover, many types of flight require VMC during all or parts of the mission, which is why military access to assigned airspace must be as flexible as possible. For some mission types, a limit on sea-state1 and a well-defined horizon are required. Under instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), some military training operations cannot be carried out. The actual weather conditions are therefore decisive for mission planning and may cause changes to the mission at short notice. 3.9.3.2. Availability In military operations, the rate of ground aborts due to technical problems is far greater than among civil operators, and this has to be taken into consideration when planning complex missions. On the other hand, the unforeseen availability of aircraft, which can then be used at short notice, is also quite common. Hence, a feasible back-up plan is always needed, which in turn creates even greater demands on the flexible allocation of airspace. 3.9.4. Environment Noise and environmental constraints may dictate special areas, routes or corridors for military activities, or may even influence the operating times of military air bases. As a re-sult, low-level flying or flying in general is sometimes not allowed. It is for the same reason that supersonic flights must be performed at high levels or over the high-seas. 4. Airspace Structure 4.1. Current Airspace Structure The current airspace structure no longer satisfies all the requirements of civil and military users. Some of the military activities are carried out within temporary segregated areas (TSA) and temporary reserved airspace (TRA). However, because of the increasing vol-ume of civil air traffic as well as environmental pressures, other military activities have to be exported to remote areas. The required operational capability can thus only be main- 1 The sea state is a meteorologically defined number which indicates the height of the waves.
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tained at considerable extra cost. Since defence budgets are limited, however, the current airspace structure needs to be adapted to meet today’s military requirements. 4.2. Future Airspace Structure The future airspace structure will be developed on the basis of strategies such as the EU proposal for a Single European Sky, the EUROCONTROL Airspace Strategy for the ECAC States and the ATM Strategy 2000+. All strategies acknowledge general defence and security needs and aim at dedicating “sufficient” airspace for military purposes. In order to maintain the operational readiness in a cost-effective manner, the future military airspace requirements will be met by providing sufficient airspace based upon the following princi-ples defined in the EUROCONTROL Airspace Strategy for the ECAC States:
• Freedom to operate at any time in all areas of ECAC airspace;
• Special handling in particular for priority flights and for time-critical missions2, but also for military aircraft whose equipment is not fully up to civil standards;
• Possibility of conducting uncontrolled VFR flights, including in managed airspace (MAS) retained;
• Temporary airspace reservations (e.g. TSAs for low-level flying, in-flight refuelling, air combat training, high-energy flying and other activities incompatible with the normal application of the rules of the air) as close as practicable to the respective airfield;
• Airspace restrictions for activities not related to aviation, such as the protection of areas of national interest, air-to-ground firing ranges, air-to-air gunnery and missile firing areas etc;
• A more dynamic airspace allocation system with enhanced FUA application. 4.3. Military Airspace Utilisation Military airspace utilisation falls into different categories. These different categories and their impact on airspace design are described in detail in Annex 2. Generally, military airspace requirements vary from state to state and even from region to region, mostly because of the difference in the mixture of aircraft types and weapon sys-tems. Five major categories exist. They are:
• Instruction flights.
• Operational training flights.
• Live exercises.
• Air defence flights.
• Ground based Air defence. 2 E.g. air policing missions in response to situations in which terrorists use a civil aircraft to perpetrate air attacks.
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It is obvious that the airspace required for these five categories varies from very limited to very large. Additionally there are different requirements regarding scheduling and avail-ability as well as permeability for other traffic. The daily need for airspace is determined by a number of factors such as available equip-ment, available personnel and meteorological conditions. Sufficient airspace must there-fore be available for training when conditions are favourable. The location of the airspace in relation to the intended users is also of vital importance, not only with regard to cost ef-fectiveness but also the time needed for the transit to remote areas. If too much time is used for the transit, the time available for training will be inadequate, resulting in reduced mission ineffectiveness, which potentially in turn requires that mission to be re-flown. 5. Description of Activities 5.1. Instruction Flights Instruction flights cover the initial and advanced training of pilots and their conversion to different aircraft types. Depending on the aim of the particular instructional mission, instruction flights may only require segregated airspace of relatively small dimensions (e.g. 20 x 30 NM) at all altitudes or only within specified height bands. They may even be performed in controlled or uncontrolled airspace next to other traffic. Annex 2 describes the different types in detail. 5.2. Operational Training Flights After having finished a type conversion, a crew’s initial operational training starts. Subsequent operational training ensures continuous qualification in a wide range of disciplines, for example, tactical navigation, weapon delivery, reconnaissance, support for ground operations, air combat and air defence operations, helicopter support operations etc. The complexity of these missions varies and depends on whether formation flying, air-to-air refuelling (AAR) or joint operations with land and sea forces are involved. During air-to-air missions, fighters operate for the most part inside segregated airspace at low, medium and high levels. Even though portions of this airspace may be available for crossing civil air traffic, large sections must not be opened for the duration of the military mission. Training takes place by night and day in all weather conditions. Communication with tactical support units must be possible. Depending on the weapons, the number of aircraft and the complexity of the scenario, airspace of up to 160 x 100 NM may be needed. Annex 2 describes these different missions in detail. 5.2.1. Air Defence Flights The objective of air defence flights is to react as quickly as possible to unforeseen events which may threaten national or international security, and/or to restore flight safety when it has been impaired by a violation of the rules of the air. Interceptions by quick reaction alert (QRA) aircraft are executed under time pressure and pilots are faced with live conflict situations. Therefore, a fast and flexible transit towards the target aircraft or area is para-mount. Air defence controllers, who also ensure co-ordination with ATC units, provide interception control. In order to train aircrews, air defence controllers and civil and military
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air traffic controllers, air defence training flights are planned and executed on a daily/regular basis. In the event of an actual mission, the QRA aircraft are mobilised by a "hot scramble". Priority over other traffic is a mandatory prerequisite for air defence flights and so is communication with an ACU, during training missions. Air defence flights are carried out under all conditions on a 24-hour basis and must have unrestricted access into any airspace. Annex 2 describes the different types in detail. 5.3. Transit Flights Military transport aircraft may operate as Operational Air Traffic (OAT) or as General Air Traffic (GAT). In some cases, they are equipped like civil transport aircraft and can be handled by ATC like any other GAT flight. Combat aircraft normally perform their transit as OAT in a manner that is comparable to GAT en route. However, it may also be necessary to train and perform transit flights at different altitudes under tactical conditions, e.g. when simulating threats from the air or ground. 5.4. Search and Rescue (SAR) In many countries, military authorities are responsible for SAR operations. SAR flights have to be given the highest priority and handled as expeditiously as possible. Although they are normally performed at lower altitudes, aircraft are sometimes used at medium altitudes as airborne radio relay units or on scene SAR co-ordinator/ commander. The airspace requirements depend on the actual circumstances. 5.5. Patrol Flights The term “patrol flight” covers different types of missions. Generally, these missions support other activities and are performed inside an orbit area and in accordance with a pre-planned pattern. Patrol flights are conducted under all conditions and at all altitudes by both night and day. A large number of patrol flights may be performed by UAVs. Annex 2 describes the different missions in detail. 5.6. Special Flights Special flights differ from other operations and require either special handling or the spe-cific allocation of airspace. Supersonic flight profiles for example, require large quantities of airspace, particularly in length. The flights are performed day and night and in all weather conditions. For noise-abatement or to avoid damage on the ground, these flights have to be executed above a specified flight level or over the high-seas, dependent on national regulations. Annex 2 describes the different missions in detail. 5.7. Others 5.7.1. Gunnery and Missile Firing Ranges Ground and sea forces regularly train in the use of guns, rockets and missiles against ground-, sea- and airborne targets. Depending on the weapon type used, the airspace
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above these ranges and in case of air-to-air firing also below must be restricted in the in-terests of public safety and to ensure the safety of all airspace users. 5.7.2. Protected Areas In peacetime, prohibited airspace is published in relevant national documents. In response to special events or crisis situations, it may become necessary to establish temporary air exclusion zones (TAEZ) above valuable assets and areas defined by national governmental agencies. 5.8. Variety of Airspace Needs As can be seen above, the airspace demands made by today’s flight missions vary enormously. The required airspace dimensions depend on the training objectives as well as the types of aircraft and weapon systems used in the mission. Further examples are listed below. 5.8.1. Air-to-Ground Operations Air-to-ground operations may be carried out by both night and day and under adverse meteorological conditions. Communication with tactical support units such as the aircraft controlling unit (ACU), the forward air controller (FAC), navy units or the respective “bomb-ing-range” control agencies is imperative. The size of the gunnery range or the additional segregated airspace next to the range depends on the specific air-to-ground mission pro-file in respect to the selected weapon delivery. Holding patterns prior to the attacks and evasive manoeuvres to react to different threats during ingress and egress may be necessary which could require prior co-ordination with ATC, if the missions are conducted within controlled airspace. Modern weapons are delivered from different altitudes and long distances. These missions, particularly if flown at low levels, require distinct pilot capabilities and navigational skills. 5.8.2. Live Flying Exercises Live flying exercises, in particular large-scale exercise scenarios, require large airspaces and, if carried out within controlled airspace, considerable ATC capacity en route. Special areas, routes and corridors may be necessary; these are designed in close co-operation with the civil and military aviation authorities prior to the exercise. To meet the requirements, the whole spectrum of airspace may be needed. The objectives can only be achieved by making use of all the available airspace management resources. A growing number of operational flights will be conducted at night with visual aids, for which adequate airspace must be provided. 5.8.3. Functional Check Flights and Test Flights Functional check flights are normally conducted day-VMC only. Preferably, these flights are generally carried out in TSAs/TRAs, but may require “super-sonic-runs” on certain oc-casions. It must be possible to activate dedicated areas at very short notice in order to
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maintain the mission-ready aircraft availability required by the respective national defence posture. 5.8.4. Air Shows and Demonstrations Air shows and demonstrations take place by day and under VMC. Restricted airspace is needed to demonstrate high performance manoeuvres. 5.8.5. Air-to-Air Refuelling Air-to-air refuelling must be possible at defined anchors, and en-route. The altitudes for air-to-air refuelling depend on the type and performance of aircraft. 5.8.6. UAVs UAV operations take place by both night and day and under all weather conditions. During exercises, UAVs may be restricted to defined airspaces. During real operations, however, UAVs operate in all theatres. 5.8.7. Others Surface-to-surface as well as surface-to-air firing also requires airspace that’s horizontal and vertical dimensions depend on the various types of weapons employed. Air-drops may be performed from low up to very high altitudes. The dimension of airspace needed depends mainly on the tasks and weather conditions. 6. Basic Requirements Derived from the description of military activities and the underlying operative principles and peculiarities, specific airspace must accommodate
• design,
• accessibility,
• availability,
• handling
• capacity requirements. In order to meet these requirements, efficient airspace management at all levels is a prerequisite. 6.1.1. Airspace Design The dimensions of airspace needed for military training and operations depend on the type of mission to be executed, the type of aircraft and weapons used and the number of air-craft involved in the mission. The mixture of forces differs widely from region to region and
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mission to mission. As a result, the required airspace dimensions vary and cannot be specified by means of a universal formula. Additionally, the introduction of new weapon systems and aircraft that are more powerful and agile changes the demands made on airspace. The need for joint exercises has increased and day-to-day training includes a wide range of activities with great emphasis on the preparation for crisis response missions and regional conflicts. This may increase the volumes of airspace needed for training and operations. As an example, it is estimated that a Eurofighter armed with beyond visual range air-to-air weapons will fill airspace blocks of 100nm x 160nm from the surface to 55000 ft. In some regions, cross-border areas will therefore have to be established to meet these requirements. 6.1.2. Accessibility In order to be able to train for and execute all types of missions for, which the armed forces are tasked, access to all types and categories of airspace must be assured and en-abled as required. When conducting live operations, air defence flights or air policing missions, priority and unrestricted access to all classes of airspace is mandatory. Air defence flights must be exercised. These exercises should be as realistic as possible and should reflect live op-eration conditions. The national definitions of requirements must be identified. Flights conducted within the framework of crisis management or other live operations are to be granted priority as well as freedom of movements and actions as operationally re-quired for the nature of the mission 6.1.3. Availability According to the Concept of the Flexible Use of Airspace, areas of suitable dimensions must be available to the military for the required periods of time. Both planned and ad-hoc utilization must be possible. In addition to having clearly defined areas at one’s disposal it must also be possible to es-tablish suitable airspaces for special missions on a temporary basis, if required. On the other hand, the areas designated for military use will not always be utilised in its full dimension. Thus, parts of segregated airspaces can sometimes be made available to other users. That results in the flexibility to make parts of segregated airspace available to other users in terms of volume and time. Taking these developments and the increase in the volume of required airspace into con-sideration, the valuable airspace resource must be fully exploited. As a result, advanced measures for the flexible use of airspace must be developed to enable the military to fulfil their tasks and to make as much airspace as possible available to civil aviation. 6.1.4. Handling Military flights are mainly conducted as OAT. In some cases, however, they can be con-ducted as GAT.
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Military GAT flights categorised as priority flights carrying heads of state, executing hu-manitarian missions or medical evacuation missions require priority handling in accor-dance with the international agreements for state flights. With regard to other military GAT flights, the pertinent GAT rules will be applied. Some OAT-flights do not require segregation and/or special handling. As not all of them can be handled like GAT in all aspects, specific procedures by ATC are necessary where civil procedures are not sufficient to accommodate the nature of military air traffic. These procedures have to be harmonised across Europe and will be mainly executed in public use airspace. Other OAT-flights require segregation and/or special handling. As indicated previously in the paragraph on military airspace utilisation, some of the missions may be executed in both managed and unmanaged airspace (e.g. VFR low level flights, supersonic flights, AEW etc.). Other missions must be well segregated from other traffic, and in most cases it is necessary to communicate with tactical support units. It is necessary to be able to operate under all weather conditions, by day and night and in all ECAC airspaces according to the key principle of self-determination. The nature of the mission affects access to the airspace for other users. In some cases, civil and/or military air traffic may cross after co-ordination, whilst in others airspace must be totally blocked for air traffic not participating in the mission. An example is shown in -Annex 4. 6.1.5. Capacity In many countries, military traffic is handled by civil service providers with or without mili-tary participation, particularly outside segregated areas. In addition to providing sufficient airspace to satisfy military requirements, air traffic services also need the support capabilities for military flight operations throughout their area of responsibility. Where necessary, priority rules must be established to enable the military to train and op-erate in a manner that ensures national security and sovereignty. 6.2. Airspace Management The main objective of air space management is to meet the specific requirements of all airspace users while preserving the safety of all air traffic participants. Airspace is regarded as a continuum and common resource. As it is finite, airspace management is required that aims for the most efficient and economic use of airspace while taking into account the capacity needs of civil aviation and the operational require-ments of military aviation in the light of national and international security and defence needs. To protect the sovereignty of a state, military airspace requirements may have to take precedence over civil aviation in some circumstances. In order to enable all stakeholders to use all of the available airspace in a flexible and effi-cient manner, collaborative airspace management at all levels is a prerequisite. From the military perspective the requirements described above must be fulfilled.
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6.2.1. Long-Term Planning Level3. In order to optimise the use of airspace for all stakeholders at the long-term planning level, fundamental airspace management procedures must be laid down by common con-sent. To do this effectively, the military must be involved in all planning processes from the very outset. As military requirements vary from country to country, they should be harmonised and standardised. The joint military requirements, which would have to reflect regional particularities, too, should then be incorporated into the management procedures. At the daily planning and execution levels, restrictions or exemptions could thus be mini-mised. 6.2.2. Daily Planning Level4 At the daily planning level the daily use of airspace will be planned. Initially, the daily need of airspace for military use will be co-ordinated within the military community by purely military co-ordinating agencies. If cross-border-areas are used, these agencies may have to be responsible for an entire region and must therefore be vested with the appropriate powers by the partners involved. A profound knowledge of the tasks and particularities of the military forces using the airspace in the agency’s area of responsibility is mandatory for the planning staff. The jointly planned military airspace utilisation will then have to be co-ordinated with the civil airspace users. Normally, this will be done within the airspace management cells (AMC), whose responsibilities depend on the structure of the airspace to be managed and can thus be either national or regional. The local and regional airspace structures as well as the particularities of the airspace users within the area of responsibility must be well known within the AMC. Planning tools offering the possibility for a timely exchange of in-formation between military and civil users must be further developed to be able to respond to short-term changes in an adequate manner. 6.2.3. Execution Level5 At execution level, the Flexible Use of Airspace Concept will be applied to flight operations. In close civil-military co-ordination within and among the control centres and air defence sites the use of airspace is managed on the basis of the “airspace use plan”, which also enables the ad-hoc use of airspace, if required. At minute-to-minute tactical air space co-ordination level, dedicated efforts must be un-dertaken to provide maximum flexibility in the use of airspace. Civil air traffic controllers must be fully aware of the impact on the value of military training if civil air traffic interferes with TSA/TRA operations on a regular basis. The disruption of a complex air-to-air mission will deny the military a successful outcome of the mission, and they may not be able to compensate it in a cost-effective manner. Furthermore, continuous priority to civil
3 Called “strategic level” in the Flexible Use of Airspace Concept. 4 Called ”pre-tactical level” in the Flexible Use of Airspace Concept. 5 Called ”tactical level” in the Flexible Use of Airspace Concept
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air traffic will hamper the military in fulfilling the tasks set by governments and in maintaining their operational readiness. Effective tactical co-ordination is considered invaluable to accommodate both civil and military needs. If the military cancel the use of assigned TSAs/TRAs, the vacant airspace can thus be made available to civil operators. Simulation tools must be created to fully cover the military peculiarities and airspace re-quirements. By means of these tools, flexible tactical co-ordination and airspace utilisation can be examined, demonstrated and practised for the full use of capacity growth potentials. The on-line data information (OLDI) exchange between ATC and air defence enhances tactical co-ordination. 7. Conclusions/General Requirements Each state has its own policy regarding national security and defence. Consequently, there are many differences in respect to national demands made upon their armed forces. Universal military airspace requirements applicable to the whole of Europe could only be achieved by harmonising the security and defence policies of all states. Since this does not appear to be feasible at the present time, this document can only state general re-quirements. The airspace available for military training within the current European airspace structures is barely sufficient to fulfil present military requirements. To fully exploit their capabilities, modern aircraft and weapons will require more airspace for training than it is allocated today. Therefore, improved civil-military co-operation and day-to-day co-ordination at all levels is of utmost importance and the key to facilitate civil and military airspace needs, especially under the light of the increasing capacity demands. It must be borne in mind by each planner that military airspace requirements are not static; they are dynamic and need to be adapted to facilitate the aerial capabilities of future air-craft and weapon systems. To accommodate defence and security needs, sufficient airspace is to be provided for military utilisation. This can be expressed in terms of the following general requirements:
• To accomplish their missions, military aircraft must be able to operate without re-strictions in all classes of airspace at all the times when required in accordance with their assigned tasking.
• In many cases, military activities must be separated from other air traffic in segre-gated airspace.
• Besides the dimension of airspace for military use the distance from the airbases to the TRAs/TSAs must be short enough to ensure an economic ratio between transit and training time.
• The TSAs/TRAs used for air combat manoeuvring should generally be under radar -coverage of military air defence units.
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• The design of TSAs/TRAs must reflect the regional/national composition and task of forces and may have to be adjusted whenever new aircraft and weapons are intro-duced.
• Some TSA/TRA or portions of them must be “hard-walled” without crossing civil air traffic while other portions do allow the coexistence of OAT and GAT in the same area and at the same time and will thus permit as much as possible the continuation of civil air traffic flows.
8. Recommendations To be able to fulfil the requirements of all European air space users, the generic military requirements described in this document need to be taken into account when designing airspace in Europe. To further enhance the utilisation of airspace, especially in respect to capacity improvements, the following should be taken into account:
• Collaborative planning should be improved at strategic level to increase the oppor-tunities for sharing airspace and to explore new airspace management methods, which would have a positive impact on efficiency and capacity.
• The AMCs should increase their efforts to optimise the use of finite airspace re-sources through appropriate civil/military co-ordination. On principle, airspace should only be segregated for the periods during which actual utilization is intended.
• New simulation systems should be developed that reflect characteristic military air-space requirements.
• The use of common data formats between ATC and air defence units should be ex-ploited.
Generally speaking, the full implementation and further enhancement of the FUA Concept is needed to optimise civil and military airspace usage. However, the FUA Concept must ensure military priority when this is dictated by essential national security and defence in-terests. The common goal of all efforts is to meet the requirements of all airspace users to the maximum extent possible. Mutual knowledge, understanding and respect of individual limitations of different airspace users must be the start. A commonly acceptable balance in accommodating the aspects of economy and commerce, as well as defence and security must be the result. To meet the national military airspace requirements, each nation needs to define its specific requirements and strive for further harmonisation on the basis of this document.
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Annex 1: Acronyms and Definitions. AAR Air-to-Air Refuelling ABCCC Airborne Command, Control and Communication ACU Aircraft Controlling Unit; military unit responsible for the tactical
control of military aircraft AEW Airborne Early Warning AMC Airspace Management Cell ATC Air Traffic Control ATM Air Traffic Management ATM Air Task Message ATO Air Task Order
BVRAAM Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile
COMAO Composite Air Operations; large formations containing different
types of aircraft
ECAC European Civil Aviation Conference ESM Electronic Support Measures EU European Union
FAC Forward Air Controller; person indicating ground targets by laser
or radio communication, either airborne or on the ground
FL Flight Level FUA Flexible Use of Airspace GAT General Air Traffic GND/SL Ground / Sea Level
JSTARS Joint Surveillance and Targeting Radar System
MAS Managed Airspace ML CAS Medium Level Close Air Support; offensive air-to-ground missions
performed at medium level MLU Mid-Life Update; modernisation of fighter aircraft MPA Maritime Patrol Aircraft
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation NM Nautical Miles OAT Operational Air Traffic OLDI On-Line Data Information OSCE Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe
QRA Quick Reaction Alert Aircraft
SAR Search and Rescue SOJ Stand off Jammer
TRA Temporary Reserved Airspace TSA Temporary Segregated Airspace
Annex 2 Detailed Description of Activities. 1. Instruction Flights Instruction flights are performed for the initial and repeat training of pilots and for their conversion to different aircraft types. 1.1. Initial Flight Instruction Initial flight instruction serves to teach the student pilots basic and advanced flying skills on military aircraft. This is the phase where the student pilots must reach the required level of proficiency in IFR procedures, basic combat manoeuvres and navigation at high, medium and low altitudes. 1.2. Aircraft Type Conversion Training Programme Aircraft type conversion training programmes are performed both inside and outside TSAs/TRAs. They serve to teach a number of skills, among them the ability - from take-off to reaching the TSA - to perform a continuous climb to high altitudes using the afterburner. The purpose of this is to be able to exploit the fighter aircraft's full potential in air opera-tions. 2. Operational and Training Flights After having finished the type conversion, initial operational training starts for thecrews. Subsequent continuous operational training ensures permanent qualification across multiple disciplines. Some of these disciplines are: tactical navigation, weapon delivery, reconnaissance, support for ground operations, air combat and air defence operations, helicopter support operations et al... The complexity of these flight operations ranges from single aircraft operations to large formations, including air-to-air refuelling (AAR), or, joint operations with land and sea forces. 2.1. Air-to-Air Missions Most of the advanced air-to-air training takes place in segregated airspace (TSAs/TRAs) at all altitudes. During flights to and from TSAs, in-flight briefings are often conducted be-tween the aircraft controlling unit (ACU) and the crews. This is partly to update the information on the objectives, execution and expected results of the training and partly to save time before the configuration of the formation in the training area. Details of last-minute changes can be exchanged between the ACU and the crews. Often, the formation can be split up by the ACU so that it is ready to start the mission as soon as it arrives at the training area. The return flight from the TSA can be performed along the "home mode" profile, i.e. the pilot, en route for his home base, will climb to the optimum fuel-saving altitude and descend in the most economical mode. This allows the optimum use of the flying time in the TSA.
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2.2. Air-to-Ground Missions Although air-to-ground operations can be performed at all altitudes, they are normally car-ried out below FL 240. The operations comprise various types, among them medium level close air support (ML CAS). ML CAS comprises air-to-ground missions at medium alti-tudes, typically in communication with a forward air controller (FAC) on the ground. What is required is the freedom to choose one’s own heading and altitude, and a clear two-way radio communication with the FAC. To allow a high degree of variation and challenges for the crews and FACs, the targets are placed at various locations and not necessarily in training areas. The targets are described in air task orders (ATOs) or air task messages (ATMs). For air-to-ground exercises or live-ordnance deliveries, ”bombing-ranges” or exercise areas are used. “Bombing-ranges”, which may also be used for forward-firing weapons such as missiles, rockets and guns, can be located over either land or sea. For safety reasons, air traffic not involved in training missions must be kept out of the ex-ercise areas. To ensure the safe performance of flights to and from danger or restricted areas by night and under IMC, special routes and corridors or other support by air traffic services may be required. It should also be taken into consideration that modern weapons are increasingly delivered for targets beyond the crew’s visual range and therefore from outside the boundaries of the actual “bombing-range”. In addition, UAVs will probably be used more frequently for air-to-ground tasks in the future, potentially resulting in greater airspace restrictions for safety reasons. 2.3. Live Flying Exercises Live flying exercises can be performed either on a large or small scale. In large-scale ex-ercises, composite air operations (COMAO) are often practised. COMAOs are composite, complex flight operations involving large numbers of aircraft in various roles. The COMAO package of aircraft is composed of different types of aircraft with different tasks that come from different airfields and different states. It is spread over a fairly large area and may have various targets. The package must be in radio communication with the ACU in order to receive threat warnings, updates on its own situation and conditions, and lastly information on other air traffic. The ACU also assists the aircraft with guidance instructions so that the COMAO formation can be configured as intended. To support for COMAO the control unit must be thoroughly familiar with the ATO and operational order for the exercise. Sufficient enroute capacity to fly to the target area and return from it as well as adequate segregated airspace for the specific mission must be available. It may also be necessary to provide airspace for operations under IMC and by night as well as proper ATC arrangements. 2.4. Reconnaissance Training Reconnaissance training usually takes place outside segregated airspace in order to achieve the highest degree of target complexity. The missions may be executed at all alti-tudes, for example a low-level approach followed by a pop-up manoeuvre at the target. Under some circumstances, reconnaissance missions are also flown for disaster relief or
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police operations. In these cases, airspace that is usually quite congested may be needed at short notice. Priority will be given to these types of mission. 2.5. Profile Fighter Profile fighters intercept military aircraft whose intentions are not known in advance by the fighter pilot. Profile fighters are controlled by the ACU, which specifies the mission type (exercise identification or simulated engagement) and guides the crew to an advantageous position. While the fighter is en route, the ACU provides information on the altitude, heading and speed of the target so as to choose the most appropriate tactics. For profile fighters, VFR are used and the skills which are built up/maintained are of vital importance to the Service in terms of the crew's operational readiness and ability to survive in an unknown hostile environment 2. Helicopter Operations For the most part, helicopter operations take place at lower altitudes. They comprise transport operations, tactical reconnaissance, special operations and insertions as well as combat operations. Since helicopter operations may include several aircraft, corridors and restricted airspace may be needed. 4. Hot Scramble In case of hot-scramble flights, rules must be applied that ensure the priority of these flights over all other air traffic, except that undergoing emergency procedures. 4.1. Air Defence Exercises In order to train the air defence system, live and simulated exercise intruders are used. These intruders act as unidentified aircraft and behave in a suspicious manner. The air defence system will then act appropriately and scramble a QRA flight for training purposes (T-Scramble). 4.2. Flight Training QRA flights are subject to "close control", i.e. the ACU specifies the altitude, heading and speed and guides the QRA aircraft towards the target up to the point at which the pilots start their interrogation, intervention or visual inspection. During training missions, QRA flights must be able to communicate with the ACU and must be controlled by it to acquire close control skills and to enable rapid changes of mission type. 5. Patrol Flights Patrol flights need airspace that is sufficient for performing their military tasks.
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5.1. Airborne Early Warning (AEW) Airborne early warning radar aircraft must orbit along a fixed track or random pattern at high levels to fulfil their surveillance and control tasks. Typically, AEW aircraft fly at approx 30.000 ft and co-ordinate their airspace requirements either directly with air traffic control or via an ACU. 5.2. Airborne Command, Control and Communication (ABCCC) Aircraft ABCCC aircraft operate in a manner that is comparable with AEW aircraft. They com-mand, control and co-ordinate joint air, sea and land operations. 5.3. Stand off Jammer (SOJ) Electronic warfare may be incorporated in air exercises. In modern warfare, the electro-magnetic spectrum is exploited by both friendly and enemy forces. Procedures for elec-tronic warfare are therefore an important exercise objective. SOJ will need orbit areas and close co-ordination procedures with the “victim unit”. Procedures with civil agencies man-aging neighbouring areas must be developed. 5.4. Electronic Support Measures (ESM) Aircraft ESM aircraft are employed as a part of electronic warfare or peacetime intelligence gath-ering operations. All of the above patrol flights need orbit areas and radio contact with military agencies. Random tracks can be co-ordinated with civil agencies, but military security constraints may play a role. 5.5. Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) Typically, MPAs conduct sea surveillance, anti-surface force warfare and anti submarine warfare at all altitudes. Normally, they fly above littoral areas or the open sea. 5.6. Joint Surveillance and Targeting Radar System (JSTARS) Aircraft JSTARS aircraft detect and track static or moving ground targets. Their airspace require-ments are similar to those of AEW aircraft. However, JSTARS aircraft may operate somewhat closer to the target area. 5.7. Maritime Environmental Protection Maritime environmental protection can either be provided by means of routine patrol flights or specific missions. Patrol flights are normally performed at low levels although the transits to the target area may be carried out at higher altitudes. Designated patrol aircraft are used, but even fighter aircraft and helicopters may be tasked with identifying suspect ships at short notice.
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6. Special Flights 6.1. Air-to-Air Refuelling (AAR) The main objective of AAR is to increase the range or flying time of the aircraft being refu-elled. AAR may take place in orbit areas or en-route. Even buddy-to-buddy AAR, where two aircraft of the same type are hooked together and exchange fuel, may be carried out in orbit areas or en-route. In this case, temporary level reservations must be ensured. 6.2. Supersonic Flights The flights that may be performed at supersonic speed are instruction flights, operational flights, functional check flights or air defence flights (the latter have priority over other flights). They serve to train the crews and to make them familiar with supersonic flying at high altitudes, for example by using the afterburner, breaking the sound barrier, decreasing the speed to subsonic flying and descending (in many cases with small quantities of fuel left). 6.3. Functional Check Flights Functional check flights are conducted to verify an aircraft’s performance after a major overhaul. Functional check flights follow special profiles at various altitudes and include flying at supersonic speeds. They are characterised by a restricted amount of fuel on board and a high fuel consumption rate, thereby limiting the flight time. 6.4. Air Shows and Demonstrations At during air shows and demonstrations military aircraft demonstrate their capabilities by showing extraordinary manoeuvres, e.g. steep turns as well as rapid climbs and descends. 6.5. Calibration Flights Calibration flights are performed to check the accuracy of ground-based and airborne ra-dar stations. In addition, navigation and precision landing aids for civil and military use may also be inspected. 6.6. Test Flights New air defence or surface-to-air missile systems may be tested by carrying out attack flights against them. Obviously, these flights involve evasive manoeuvres including rapid climbs and descents. The profiles are described in advance in an operational order, which all participants must be thoroughly familiar with. The ACU or target radar unit controls the test flights. This is necessary in order to be able to make instant changes to the test programme.
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7. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) UAVs are likely to become a regular part of military operations mostly for reconnaissance purposes and air-to-ground attacks at all altitudes. For their flights outside segregated air-space, adequate air traffic control procedures must be developed. 8. Air Drop Transport aircraft and helicopters can be used for dropping personnel and equipment into a target area from a variety of altitudes.
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Annex 3, Airspace Needs Mission Type Mil GAT OAT TSA Rest. Area IFR/VFR 24-hours Altitude Status
Instruction Flights Some YES BOTH YES BOTH YES GND/SL-FL550 Plan able
Air-to-Air Missions NO YES IN NO BOTH YES GND/SL-FL550 Plan able
Air-to-Ground Missions NO YES OUT YES BOTH YES GND/SL-FL300 Plan able
Reconnaissance Training NO YES OUT NO BOTH YES GND/SL-FL300 Plan able
Reconnaissance (Hot scramble) NO YES OUT NO BOTH YES GND/SL-FL300 Not plan able
Live Weapons Delivery NO YES OUT YES VFR NO GND/SL-FL300 Plan able
Profile Fighter NO YES OUT NO VFR NO GND/SL-FL550 Plan able
Helicopter Operations NO YES OUT YES BOTH YES GND/SL-FL150 Plan able
Air Defence Flights NO YES BOTH NO BOTH YES GND/SL-FL550 Not plan able
Transit Flights YES YES OUT NO IFR YES GND/SL-FL450 Plan able
Patrol Flights Training NO YES BOTH YES BOTH YES GND/SL-FL550 Plan able
Patrol Flights NO YES OUT NO BOTH YES GND/SL-FL550 Plan able
Search And Rescue Training NO YES BOTH BOTH BOTH YES GND/SL-FL350 Plan able
Search And Rescue NO YES OUT NO BOTH YES GND/SL-FL450 Not plan able
Functional Check Flights NO YES IN NO BOTH NO GND/SL-FL550 Plan able
Air Shows and Demos NO YES OUT YES VFR NO GND/SL-FL400 Plan able
Calibration and Test Flights Some YES OUY OPTIONAL BOTH NO GND/SL-FL550 Plan able
UAV NO YES OUT YES BOTH YES GND/SL-FL550 Plan able
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Explanation:
Mission Type: The type of the mission as described earlier.
Mil GAT: Whether the mission can be flown as GAT.
OAT: If the mission must be handled as OAT.
TSA: IN if the mission is inside TSA, OUT if the mission is outside and BOTH are the mission is both. Rest. Area: Whether a restricted or danger area is needed. IFR/VFR: Indicates IFR, VFR or both if needed.
24-hours: Indicates if the mission takes place both night and day.
Altitude: Estimate on altitude requirements.
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Annex 3, Appendix 1, Example of airspace needs for 4 V 2
550
50
200
80nm
160nm
100 nm
2nm
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Annex 3, Appendix 2, Example of airspace needs for BFM
• BFM
300
50
180
2nm
Min 20nm
Min 20nm
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Annex 3, Appendix 3, Example of airspace needs for ACM
300
50
180
2nm
30nm
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Annex 3, Appendix 4, Example of airspace needs for AIR-TO-GROUND Training
GND
AIR-TO-GROUND
FL300
60 NM
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Annex 3, Appendix 5, Example of airspace needs for 2-V-2 Training
MMiinn AACCTT -- DDAACCTT
500
50
2nm
150 NM
80 NM
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Annex 3, Appendix 6, Patrol Flights
Patrol Aircraft
A/G restricted area
Holdning area
TSA
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Annex 4, Military Airspace Utilisation.
Military Airspace Utilisation
Military Airspace Utilisation
GAT OAT Other activities
Special procedures Special handling In public airspace In restricted areas
In public airspace In segregated areas
Managed airspace Unmanaged airspace Penetration possible Blocked for other traffic
