European Air Refuelling Training (EART) & OCEAN SKY 2025

From 17 to 31 October 2025, Lanzarote, Spain, hosted  the European Air Refuelling Training (EART) exercise which involved multinational air-to-air refuelling operations. Integrated with the Spanish-led Ocean Sky 2025 exercise, EART 2025 prooved NATO-standard interoperability among allied air forces while fostering operational excellence in a strategically important southern European region.

This year EART exercise has brought multiple types of tanker aircraft to Spanish soil under the coordination of EATC (European Air Transport Command) to operate in a strategically important territory such as the Canary Islands area where the Gando air base boasts the southernmost position among all European NATO bases.

The following assets were deployed in Lanzarote:

KC-767  from  Italian air force

A-330MRTT  from French Air and Space Force

A-400M from Spanish Air Force

A-330 MRTT (MMU Multinational Multirole Tanker Transport Unit)

In addition, a CATO (Combined Air Terminal Operation) has been set up at the Lanzarote Base, a terminal to support and coordinate the activity of both loading / unloading cargo and for maintenance and to ensure the operation of the various aircraft.

Building on the success of EART 2024 in the US, this edition reaffirmed Europe’s commitment to strategic mobility, operational excellence and international defence cooperation by demonstrating that the strength of allied air power lies in collaboration and unified 24-hour readiness across all theatres.

After the 2024 edition held in Alaska, integrated with the Pacific Skies24 exercise, EART 25 (European Air Refuelling Training) returned to Europe and was held in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, as it was in 2023.

Also this year, as two years ago, it was integrated with Ocean Sky, the largest large-scale multinational exercise organized by the Ejercito del Aire where the Spanish and non-Spanish assets were deployed on the airport of Gando, Gran Canaria.

Ocean Sky 25 was certainly one of the largest and most complex exercises that took place in Europe in 2025 with a truly important number of participating aircraft and which, combined with EART, gave the opportunity to improve interoperability and knowledge between the deployed forces. 

These were the planes deployed in Gando AB

Spanish Air force

Ala11-EF2000 Moron A.B

Ala12-F-18M   Torrejon A.B.

Ala14-EF-2000 Albacete A.B.

Ala15-F-18M  Zaragoza A.B.

Ala46-F-18/CN-235D.4/AS-332 Gando A.B.

Greek Air Force(Polemiki Aeroporia)

 347 Sqn –F-16 C/D Nea Anchialos A.B.

Portuguese Air force

201st Sqn F-16° Monte Real A.B.

USAF

492nd Sqn-F-15E  Lakenheath A.B.

Luftwaffe

TaktLwG 74 F-2000 Neuburg A.B.

India Air force(IAF)

24th Sqn  SU-30MKI Bareilly AFS

Certainly the most unusual and awaited guests were the Sukoi 30MKI, of the Indian Air Force which participated for the first time in an exercise in Spanish territory, thus marking history as the first non-NATO air force to take part in an Ocean Sky.

Pictures by Luciano Bertolini & Report by Simone Ba