NATO and EATC fleets explained: Europe’s shared military aircraft

Two of Europe’s most important multinational military airlift and tanker arrangements are NATO’s Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport Fleet (MMF) and the European Air Transport Command (EATC). Although EATC consists entirely of EU member states, it is not an institution of the European Union.

These organizations are often misunderstood, and aircraft appearing in their inventories sometimes overlap with each other and national air forces.

NATO’s fleet of military aircraft

While the NATO alliance does not collectively possess a large independent air force, it does have a notable number of enabling transports, tankers, and AEW&C aircraft. Fighter jets (e.g, F-35s, F-16s, Eurofighters) are exclusively operated by member state air forces.

🟇 #NATO E-3A Sentry fleet (13); last reported locations 2026-03-21Z

Konya Air Base 🇹🇷 (3)
➢ LX-N90443 #4D03C1
➢ LX-N90453 #4D03CB
➢ LX-N90442 #4D03C0

NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen 🇩🇪 (3)
➢ LX-N90448 #4D03C6
➢ LX-N90445 #4D03C3
➢ LX-N90444 #4D03C2 https://t.co/EWkTBGP3bK pic.twitter.com/mcIjEEJkCN

— Steffan Watkins  (@steffanwatkins) March 23, 2026

NATO’s current fleet of aircraft includes around 13-14 operational, rapidly aging Boeing E-3A Sentry AEW&C aircraft. It originally had a fleet of 18 Sentries, but some have retired or crashed.

These are based at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen in Germany with forward air bases in Greece, Italy, Turkey, and Norway. They remain the Alliance’s primary “eyes in the sky” and are expected to be retired by around 2035 (more below).

NATO also operates a small fleet of three Boeing C-17A Globemaster III strategic transport aircraft and a fleet of nine Airbus A330 MRTT tanker aircraft with a tenth on order.

Interestingly, while the tanker fleet is dwarfed by the USAF’s fleet of KC-135s and KC-46s, it is one of the larger tanker fleets in the world.

The aircraft are owned by NATO through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), but are registered in the Netherlands, carry Royal Netherlands Air Force serial numbers, and are operated by the multinational MMU, headquartered at Eindhoven Air Base.

Participating aircraft include Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

NATO also owns a fleet of five RQ-4D Phoenix high-altitude, long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft.

NATO’s Strategic Airlift International Solution (SALIS) is a multinational strategic airlift contract rather than a fleet. Participating nations obtain access to Antonov An-124 heavy-lift aircraft operated by Antonov Airlines under long-term commercial agreements. Additional aircraft types (e.g., Il-76) may also be contracted when required.

Get the latest aerospace defence news here on AGN.

Future NATO aircraft

As stated, one more Airbus A330 MRTT is on order for NATO’s MMF, and this will bring the fleet to ten. It is also set to acquire five new advanced MQ-4C Triton maritime patrol drones to expand its fleet of RQ-4D Phoenix drones.

However, the primary focus of NATO’s future fleet is on the replacement of the Boeing E-3 Sentries.

Until 2025, the plan had been to replace them with a fleet of Boeing E-7 Wedgetail AEW&Cs aircraft. But the USAF announced it would cancel its acquisition of the Wedgetail in mid-2025, and it withdrew from the NATO initiative to acquire the aircraft.

While the USAF has since reversed its decision to acquire six E-7 Wedgetails after Operation Epic Fury against Iran, the remaining NATO contributors are now looking to acquire a fleet of ten Saab GlobalEyes. It is the primary European-based alternative.

Following the US decision to pursue its own acquisition strategy, a coalition of 11 NATO Allies announced plans to jointly procure up to ten Saab GlobalEye aircraft under NATO’s interim Allied Future Surveillance and Control (iAFSC) programme.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on the 7th of June, “Today we are announcing the joint procurement of up to 10 Saab GlobalEyes.” This is part of the Allied Future Surveillance and Control (iAFSC) project.

The plan is for these aircraft to meet NATO’s operational target in 2031, and the first units may be supplied by 2030.

European Air Transport Command (EATC) aircraft

Meanwhile, the European Air Transport Command (EATC) unites seven European nations with more than 180 air assets across 13 air bases. Although all of its members are European Union countries, EATC is neither an EU institution nor a NATO command.

The EATC “Unites seven nations with over 180 air assets across 13 airbases.” Its fleet includes around 20 types of aircraft and a total of around 180 aircraft.

The EATC is sometimes misunderstood as a European air force; it is not. It is a multinational command headquartered at Eindhoven Air Base and exercises operational control over transport, tanker, and medical aircraft that are owned by the member states. It is a “pooling and sharing” model.

Founded in 2010, the EATC exercises operational control over much of the military airlift, air-to-air refuelling and aeromedical evacuation fleets of its seven participating member states.

The backbone of the fleet is the A400M. Germany contributes 38 examples, France 19 (more arriving), Spain 11, Belgium/Luxembourg seven. Luxembourg is notable for having one of the smallest air forces in Europe, and yet operates one of the largest aircraft.

The second pillar is the Airbus A330 MRTT, with the EATC considering the aircraft as its strategic long-range backbone.

Some Airbus A330 MRTTs appear in both EATC and NATO MMF inventories. This is because the aircraft are owned through NATO’s MMF programme and operated by the multinational Multinational MRTT Unit (MMU), but Dutch-registered aircraft assigned by the Netherlands can also be placed under EATC’s operational control for missions tasked through the command.

The same aircraft can support both NATO and EATC operations without belonging exclusively to either organisation.

Featured Image: NATO