Military involvement in SESAR crucial says high-level meeting

The meeting, which was held on 1 April at EUROCONTROL, agreed that a close relationship with the SESAR JU at strategic and technical level will be necessary. However, funding mechanisms must be found that would allow the military to invest resources beyond the envelope of national security and defence. "Military forces across Europe are well aware of the importance of SESAR and of their involvement in it," said Mr Jean-Robert Cazarré, Director of Civil-Military Coordination at EUROCONTROL. "We are addressing the military-military and civil-military coordination at European level through EUROCONTROL and in particular the MAB - but we must also recognise the importance of additional funding in order for us to be fully integrated and contribute to SESAR and Single European Sky activities. The Military ATM Board (MAB) was established in November 2007 to provide high-level military advice regarding civil-military ATM issues to the Director General of EUROCONTROL. It presently consists of senior military officers from 31 States. The Chairman of the MAB is Major General Peter Vorderman from the Netherlands.