From June 9 to 13, experts from Allied Air Command Ramstein, Joint Forces Command Naples, NATO and Azerbaijan assisted the QEAF in evaluating the level of interoperability of a C-130 Air Transport Unit in the framework of Alliance operations,Azernews reports citing the NATO website.

Two of the unit’s Hercules C-130 transport aircraft had been declared to the NATO pool of forces in 2022 to potentially support Alliance missions as part of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI).

The evaluation team consisting of 15 Qataris, 15 NATO and three Azerbaijani evaluators provided a challenging scenario testing the unit’s ability to conduct mission under different threat conditions – besides outside temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius.

The ICI is a partnership framework that aims to contribute to long-term global and regional security by offering non-NATO countries in the broader Middle East region the opportunity to cooperate with NATO.

In 2005, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates formally joined the ICI, while Oman and Saudi Arabia participate in selected activities within the framework.