The decision taken during the Prague summit on 21-22 November 2002 to admit seven new members offers NATO not only a huge expansion of friendly territory, but also new possibilities for peacekeeping and peace enforcing operations. Joint planning, joint training and joint exercises with new military forces. Exercises like Co-Operative Key 2002 which was held in France from September 21 till October 5, 2002.

Looking at their current equipment and future procurement planning, some of the new NATO members have little more than a token air force with little or no combat capability. At the same time, even the smallest of these new NATO members have something to offer which is very valuable in terms of military requirements: transport capabilities and helicopters operations. Especially helicopters provide almost unlimited support for most crisis response operations carried out in today's military theatre. They are extensively used for Search-and-Rescue (SAR) and Combat SAR (C-SAR) operations, they are indispensable in aero-medical evacuations and the evacuation of civilian and military people and they provide opportunities for dropping and picking up military personnel from areas which are difficult to reach for fixed wing aircraft. Especially these kind of operations, in combination with close air support (CAS) missions, were trained during the recent Co-operative Key 2002 exercise which was held at St. Dizier Air Base in France from 21 September to 5 October 2001.

Planned by Allied Forces Southern Europe Headquarters (AFSouth) and led by the AIRSouth Air Forces branch of this organisation, 22 countries found their way to St. Dizier Air Base in the Northern part of France to participate in Co-operative Key 2002 (CK2002). Among the participants: seven countries that will join NATO in 2004 - Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and two of the three Baltic States: Latvia and Lithuania - ten original NATO members and five other Partnership for Peace (PfP) nations. Main objective of CK2002 was to allow old and new NATO members and partner nations to practice and refine interoperability in the air and on the ground in support of crisis response operations. With ''1600 people, including 130 'role players' simulating refugees and war casualties and 150 specialized commandos and paratroopers, CK2002 was the largest exercise organised by AFSouth so far. Hardware participating this years edition of the exercise consisted of 29 fighter aircraft, 20 helicopters, 12 transport aircraft and a French E-3D Sentry AWACS. A multi-national force with aircraft from 17 nations and with the participating helicopters playing an essential role in the exercise scenario.

The scenario practised by the NATO and PfP nations during their stay at BA113 St.Dizier closely resembled earlier editions of the exercise. It also mirrors operations carried out in Central Europe and other conflict areas and will probably set the stage for future NATO operations in which the new membership countries will have a more prominent role. Two nations that once were part of the same republic are in open conflict with each other. In this conflict, Asperia, a developing democracy with a viable economy and a limited but well-equipped military force, has to defend part of its rural sources against the neighbouring Weston. Weston is controlled by a dictator, economically weak, typified as a regional military power and is repressing the Asperian minority within its boundaries. The outbreak of war is generating a flow of Westonian refugees that Asperia cannot handle and this country is calling upon the United Nations (UN) for help. A resolution to deploy a military force has been accepted and this NATO/PfP force is mandated to conduct peace support operations (PSO) in the conflict area. At this point CK2002 'took off'.

Operational missions flown within an exercise like Co-operative key closely reflect the needs of NATO's new members for joint planning and training facilities, in combination with the operational capabilities of the aircraft that were invited to participate. Key elements were C-SAR operations, troop deployment and re-deployment operations including the use of paratroopers, close air support (CAS), medical evacuations (Medivac), air transportation and field operations. Prior to the training flights, there were two days of workshops on administrative and exercise briefings, task specific training and a series of verification tests. After this paperwork, which is essential with so many (new) nations and cultures participating, flying activities started. First with familiarization missions and individual training sorties, followed by small scale task specific operations. Given the purpose of the exercise - to practice and refine interoperability in air and limited land operations carried out by a multinational force - each flying day included extensive debriefing sessions. The live air exercise itself took place in the second week. Important new elements that contributed to the realism of the exercise were the introduction of night flying operations and the use of a deployable AOC (Air Operations Centre).

An exercise like CK2002 offers learning opportunities for all participating nations. However, the learning curve was probably the steepest for the two nations that made more preparations for their armed forces to become compatible with those of NATO than any of the other new members: Romania and Bulgaria. Both countries were prominently present at St. Dizier and took the opportunity to practise a variety of roles and missions with their new NATO partners, including participation in the command-and-control structure of the exercise. Romania sent a large delegation with fighter aircraft (three MiG-21 Lancer Cs), two IAR330S Puma helicopters and a C-130B Hercules transport aircraft. The Bulgarian Air Force was present at St. Dizier with a Mi-17 helicopter, an An-26 transport aircraft and two Su-25 Frogfoots. Other interesting participants were four Mirage 2000 fighters from the Greek Air Force, four Turkish F-16Cs and Mi-8MTV-1 helicopters from Croatia, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldavia and Macedonia.

Right now, preparations for the next Co-operative Key exercise are already well on their way. In 2003, the exercise will be hosted by Bulgaria and will take place in the second half of September. The acceptance of new NATO members and their eagerness to show their progress in carrying out joint operations, combined with the continuously increasing complexity of this kind of exercises, makes it almost certain that CK2003 will be one of the most important and interesting air exercises in Southern Europe in 2003. Many of the countries participating in CK2002, including the Croatian Air Force which intends to participate with two MiG-21 fighters and one or two Mi-8 helicopters, already expressed their interest in coming to Bulgaria. Maybe an idea for the Albanian Air Force to show itself on this platform, like the Macedonians did in 2002?

The authors would like to thank Major Tim Dunne (AIRSouth) and LTT. Françoise Digue (Sirpa Air) for their support in preparing this article.