"Knjaz Danilo" airport offered for NATO pilot training center

Montenegro has offered the "Knjaz Danilo" military airport in Podgorica as the main location for the NATO pilot training center, it was confirmed to "Vijesta" from the Ministry of Defense.

"For almost 60 years, the mentioned location has served as the main air force base in our country. The Air Force of the Croatian Army inherits the tradition of a unit that has been a training center for airplane and helicopter pilots since the late 60s of the last century, where we still conduct training for our own needs - basic and advanced for helicopter pilots," the Ministry of Defense said. The military one is located next to the civilian airport.

After the meeting of the defense ministers of the member countries in the middle of the month, Predrag Bošković and 10 other ministers signed a letter of intent to establish such centers.

The letter of intent was also signed by the defense ministers of Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Portugal, Romania, North Macedonia, Spain and Turkey.

All of them offered the principle locations of their training centers. These are mostly already established, and some of them are internationally recognized pilot training centers.

"There is a possibility that pilots of other allied and partner nations will be trained in Montenegro, just as there will be a possibility that Montenegrin pilots will be sent to other training centers. How it will be implemented, when and in what way, will be discussed by the 11 signatory nations of the letter of intent in the second step in the establishment of this initiative," it was explained to "Vijesta" from the Ministry of Defense.

They add that at the moment it is not yet known which centers will be included in the network of pilot training centers because it is a matter of future needs, offers and agreements of the signatory nations.

When it comes to training, many allies send their pilots to the US. According to details from the NATO website, a memorandum of understanding is expected to be signed next year, and the first center is expected to open in 2022.

When asked how important such centers are for Montenegro, the Ministry of Defense said that they will provide the opportunity for nations to complete their training programs in accordance with their needs, without investing independently in developing their own capacities, but rather using the existing ones and the offer of other allies. and partner.

"Thus, we will be able to offer the specifics of the terrain of Montenegro and support the training of foreign pilots who would stay in our country during the training," the answer added.

As it was announced earlier from Brussels, the overall benefit will be the readiness of the Alliance's air forces.

"This multinational collaboration will increase European training capacity and enable crews to train as close to their homes as possible. As such, it serves as an excellent example of transatlantic burden sharing," said Deputy Secretary General Mircea Joan.

They trained both German and Macedonian pilots

This kind of cooperation is not new for Montenegro, because for several years there was a helicopter unit from Germany in the Air Force of the Croatian Republic of Croatia.

"In 2010, they were with six helicopters and about 50 pilots and technicians who were training in landing on high terrain in night conditions. On that occasion, the Air Force of the Republic of Croatia provided the colleagues from Germany with all logistical support during the training," the Ministry of Defense told "Vijesta".

On the other hand, Montenegrin pilots will be able to use specialist pilot training centers where they will complete the necessary courses that cannot be implemented in the country because the development of certain capacities is not profitable for VCG.

The geographical position of the military airport is such that within a radius of 40 kilometers it provides all the elements for basic and advanced training of helicopter pilots, which, as the Ministry of Defense points out, significantly reduces training costs.

"Also, extremely favorable meteorological characteristics allow flight training to be carried out 270 days a year. In the mentioned location, the Air Force of the Republic of Macedonia already trained ten pilots of the Army of North Macedonia in the period from 2010 to 2015," added the Ministry.