Pacific Skies 24: How Airbus serves air forces around the world

“This is an unprecedented mission with a huge responsibility,” says Octavio Manjarres, Airbus Services’ Pacific Skies task force leader. The joint operation between France, Germany and Spain includes exercises in the US, Japan, Australia and India. What kind of preparation, logistics and in-service support is required for a mission of this scale?

“Our customers are demonstrating their ability to deploy quickly and flexibly beyond their home regions, interoperating with different aircraft and working together,” says Manjarres.

“This is a huge logistical challenge for everyone involved and a unique opportunity to learn and improve the support we provide to our customers.”

Pacific Skies began months ago, long before the jets took to the skies. Airbus teams have been coordinating with customers, helping to assemble mission kits and ensuring aircraft readiness through preventive maintenance at air force bases. In addition, Airbus has established a network of experts and has placed more than 50 suppliers on alert, should technical support or unplanned material be needed during the exercise.

During Pacific Skies the MMU's A330 MRTT fleet conducted air-to-air refuelling with international receivers and worked with multi-domain command and control systems. Copyright: Luftwaffe

“We need to ensure that resources are available throughout the northern hemisphere summer, on the other side of the world and across time zones. We have a dedicated maintenance, repair and overhaul team on standby to travel in case an aircraft needs to be recovered and our customers require support,” explains Manjarres.

The A330 MRTT: from air-to-air refuelling to the largest Pitch Black exercise

Based in the Netherlands, Airbus field service representative (FSR) Víctor Anton Meñica supports NATO's Multinational A330 MRTT Unit (MMU). The Unit provides air-to-air refuelling, medical evacuations, transport of military personnel and cargo in support of participating nations' missions. “Working closely with the European Air Transport Command*, we have put our heart and soul into ensuring that the fleet is in the best possible condition,” Meñica says.

Víctor Anton Meñica (4th from the left) works closely with his counterparts of the different air forces at the Pitch Black MOC (Maintenance Operation Center) to ensure their A330 MRTTs are operational.

Meñica was based at Amberley Air Base in Queensland, Australia, supporting the A330 MRTTs from Australia, Singapore, France, the UK and the MMU fleet deployed during Pitch Black, which ran from 12 July to 2 August. “This was a remarkable display of air power,” he says. This year's exercise brought together 20 countries, more than 140 aircraft and over 4,400 military personnel. Large aircraft formations, day and night flying – these are things that air forces cannot practice during routine operations in Europe.

“The A330 MRTTs flew everyday and my role was to support the customers to avoid any operational disruption. Being deployed on the field and having direct access to the fleet, I can coordinate the most suitable solution with the Airbus technical support teams,” Meñica explains. What is the key to being a good field representative? “Knowing what questions to ask so the issues are properly understood and prioritised. This is key so we can provide quick and accurate advice to the operators.”

This is the largest Pitch Black exercise in its 43-year history. Eurofighters from Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK and A330 MRTTs from five different fleets are among the aircraft taking part in the exercise.

A400M: Supporting customers “from within”, from Australia to India

Around 3,000 km from Amberley, Queensland, at Darwin Air Base, Northern Territory, Australia, Menica's FSR colleague Eduardo Tijeras assisted the French, German and Spanish air forces in bringing the A400M to Pitch Black, with the French using the airlifter for tactical operations during Darwin exercises. The A400M is being primarily used to transport material and improve logistical operations throughout the Pacific Skies deployment, while one French A400M is available for search and rescue missions in the Asia Pacific region if required.

Eduardo Tijeras has experience working with most Airbus military aircraft. He assisted the French, German and Spanish air forces in bringing the A400M to Pitch Black.

“Evidently, aircraft are complex, many different issues can arise,” says Tijeras. “My role during Pitch Black was to take the burden off the customer and address technical issues by talking to Airbus engineering teams to get answers quickly. We had to be flexible and understand our customers’ constraints.”

Deployed since 2020 with the Royal Malaysian Air Force A400M fleet in Kuala Lumpur, Tijeras is an aircraft mechanic by trade. He’s been in the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) as well as the services field for the last 12 years and has worked with most Airbus military aircraft. “We are the eyes of Airbus at the customer, and the voice of the customer at Airbus,” he says.

French Air Force A400M in Pitch Black 2024

Eurofighter: defence commitment from Alaska to Japan and Hawaii

In parallel with Pitch Black, FSR Frank Fust supported the German Air Force during the Nippon Skies exercise in Japan, where he was on duty from 17 to 25 July, and Rimpac in Hawaii, from 27 to 30 July. He is part of the System Support Center Eurofighter (SSC EF), a civil-military cooperation between Airbus and the German Air Force, based in Manching, Germany.

During Nippon Skies, three German Eurofighter trained alongside Japanese Air Self-Defence Force fighters. Rimpac focused on protecting naval forces from air attack, and interoperability between the various branches. In between, the German Air Force even set the record for the longest non-stop Eurofighter flight, covering the 8,600-kilometre distance from Japan to Hawaii in 10 hours and 31 minutes, including several in-flight refuelling operations.

As part of the System Support Center Eurofighter (SSC EF), Frank Fust has been supporting the German Air Force during the Nippon Skies in Japan and Rimpac in Hawaii.

“We provide first-hand support by making sure the performance of the Eurofighter's radar and defensive aids sub-systems are stable,” Fust says. “We listen to the pilots' debriefing and analyse what the weapon system is telling us.” The main challenges during the exercises were to effectively manage the spares inventory and to react quickly in the short time between missions. “In the end, it is about providing more operational capability together with the customer, so that the pilot can fly the missions as planned,” Fust stresses.

Throughout, he was able to rely on both his Airbus and his military colleagues at the SSC EF in Manching. Their close support was also on full display during Arctic Defender, the first leg of the global Pacific Skies deployment, which took place in Fairbanks, Alaska, in early July 2024.

Spanish and German Eurofighter in Pitch Black 2024

Last stop India: strengthening multinational cooperation

The last major Pacific Skies stop will be Tarang Shakti in early August, when the Indian Air Force will host its first multinational exercise.

“We structured Pacific Skies months in advance and we are executing it as planned, communicating very closely with our customers and suppliers,” concludes Géraldine Thiercelin, Head of Services, Air Power, Airbus Defence and Space. “We are responsive to the air forces’ needs at all times during the exercise. I am really proud of Team Airbus and what we are doing.”

*The European Air Transport Command (EATC) is a seven-nation multinational command providing air mobility solutions in the areas of air transport, air-to-air refuelling and aeromedical evacuation.