Heavy Airlift Wing supports landforce exercise

  • Published
  • By Ville Tuokko
  • Strategic Airlift Capability Heavy Airlift Wing
PÁPA, Hungary --  Editor's note: This is a courtesy article from the Strategic Airlift Capability Heavy Airlift Wing public affairs office.

During May 2nd and 3rd 2014, the Strategic Airlift Capability Heavy Airlift Wing achieved a significant milestone in the history of the multinational SAC airlift program by carrying out its first operational C-17 airdrop missions as a part of multinational military exercises in Latvia and Poland.

The airdrop missions carried out with SAC Boeing C-17 Globemaster III long range cargo jet SAC 02 consisted of parachute assisted delivery of cargo and personnel to two designated drop zones in Latvia and Poland.

During the first mission that took place on May 2nd, SAC 02 picked up 12 Container Delivery System (CDS) cargo bundles weighing approximately 630 kilograms (1,380 lbs) each from Aviano Air Base, Italy. The cargo was delivered to a drop zone set up on Ādaži training range, Latvia, approximately 20 kilometers (appx.12 miles) northeast from the capital Riga.

During the May 3rd mission SAC 02 picked up United States Army paratroopers of the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) accompanied by Polish paratroopers from Świdwin Air Base in northwestern Poland and carried out two personnel airdrop flights over the nearby Ziemsko drop zone.

The airdrops, requested by the Strategic Airlift Capability member nation the United States, were a part of a series of Heavy Airlift C-17 missions carried out to support the ongoing expanded training activities of SAC nations' armed forces and NATO alliance members in Poland and the Baltic States Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Alongside with material and personnel airdrop missions, the Heavy Airlift Wing has supported the exercises with several regular airlift missions in late April and early May of 2014.

The successful airdrops in Latvia and Poland marked a significant milestone to the multinational Strategic Airlift Capability program and its operational arm Heavy Airlift Wing. The Heavy Airlift Wing that began its flight operations in 2009 has previously performed several separate personnel and material airdrop training events with armed forces of the 12 SAC nations. The May 2014 airdrop missions were the first ones that were carried out by the HAW as a part of multinational exercises under conditions simulating operational airdrop scenarios.

The Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW) based in Hungarian Defence Forces (HDF) Pápa Air Base, Hungary is the operational arm of the multinational Strategic Airlift Capability program (SAC). The HAW operates three C-17 Globemaster III long-range military cargo jets providing strategic airlift capability to meet the mission requirements of the 12 SAC partner nations .The HAW became operational in 2009 and its aircraft fleet has achieved over 13,000 flying hours. The unit reached Full Operational Capability (FOC) in 2012.