Dark Blade 2019. 25 European helicopters in exercise in the Czech Republic
(B2) 25 helicopters and planes from six countries are mobilized up to the 1st on the air base of Náměšť nad Oslavou (Czech Republic)
About 600 military personnel from six countries - Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia - are taking part in 'dark-blade 2019', Exercise which is part of the program of the European Defense Agency (EDA) dedicated to strengthening the 'helicopter' component, combining training and technical updates.
25 helicopters of different kinds
On the material side, it will be diversified. There are naturally a few Russian-made aircraft: 4 Czech Mi-24/35 and 4 Mi-171Š helicopters, as well as 3 Mi-24 and 2 Hungarian Mi-17 helicopters. There is also 1 Polish W-3 AE Sokol, 3 heavy helicopters Sikorsky CH-53 Stallion Germans, 1 Eurocopter AS532 Cougar and 1 Slovenian Bell 412. Russian-made helicopters are especially supplied in the armies of the Visegrad group. The Belgians are participating with six helicopters: three Agusta A109 aircraft from the 17th Squadron and three Caiman helicopters from the 18th Squadron NH90 TTH.
At the heart of the system: the COMAO concept
The objective of the exercise remains simple: to improve tactical interoperability between helicopter units using the COMAO concept (Composite Air Operations) and allow crews to practice operations in various environments, trying to best reproduce " the difficult conditions that participating forces may face when deployed in a theater of operations. On the menu, flights at low altitude or in formation, live fire and participation of the special forces of the troops, cannon fire, use of means of electronic warfare on the ground, ...
Day and night missions
The crews will carry out day and night COMAO missions of a wide variety of nature: air assault missions (AA) to personnel recovery (PR), via air interdiction missions (AI), air transport (AT), close air support (CAS), night flights (with or without NVG) and other missions at the tactical level. Special operations forces will participate in the exercise to practice infiltration operations, in enemy territory, or exfiltration.
A body of instructors
Six instructors from Austria, Sweden and the UK trained in the HTIC course (Helicopter Tactics Instructors Course) of the European Defense Agency, together with some instructors from the Netherlands trained at the Dutch Helicopter Weapons Instructor Course, will provide the team of 'mentors', in charge of supporting the multinational crews. A team of chief instructors from the European Defense Agency will manage and supervise the team of mentors in order to make the most of previous techniques and exercises (CTH, CTIC, COMAO planning and GE courses).
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
