Nato allies join UK-led scheme training pilots for fighters, helis and transport aircraft
More Nato allies are joining a UK-led programme to train pilots to operate jet fighters, helicopters, and transport aircraft.
Canada, Denmark, Norway and Poland have agreed to take part in the Nato Flight Training Europe (NFTE) project, which delivers a network of training campuses.
It comes as Defence Secretary John Healey outlines the Government's military spending plans set out in the Strategic Defence Review to other defence ministers in the alliance at a meeting in Brussels.
The NFTE was set up in June 2020 to provide a more cost-effective way to offer state-of-the-art training for pilots and produce air crews that can operate at high readiness.
Belgium, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Spain and Turkey currently participate in the project.
UK military liaison officers will lead the development of Nato's Forward Land Forces (FLF) Finland for the first time.
These officers will work with both Sweden, as the Framework Nation, and Finland as they develop FLF Finland to strengthen security on the alliance's eastern flank.
Mr Healey also discussed the Strategic Defence Review and plans to invest in and develop the UK's military over the coming years, including spending more on drone warfare, developing a "hybrid navy", and increasing the lethality of the Army.
He said: "We will invest in technology to give our troops the edge in the battlefields of the future, transforming our Armed Forces and boosting our warfighting readiness.
"This will increase our lethality, provide a powerful deterrent to our adversaries, and put the UK at the leading edge of innovation in Nato.
"We will back UK business to innovate at a wartime pace, creating highly skilled jobs and fast-tracking the weapons of tomorrow into the hands of our warfighters."
Join Our Newsletter
