Military needs and roles are unique in SESAR

An interview with Group Captain John Clark, Royal Air Force -Assistant Director, Airspace Policy 2

Group Captain John Clark currently represents the Military ATM Board of Eurocontrol. As Group Captain for Air Traffic Control (ATC) at the UK’s Headquarters Air, he was responsible for military ATC policy and all aspects of service delivery with a particular focus on expeditionary ATC. Group Capt Clark joined the Royal Air Force in 1976 and was subsequently commissioned into the Air Traffic Control Branch. He has served with the RAF in a variety of posts in the UK, Belize, Germany and Saudi Arabia, where he was directly responsible for all UK air operations over Afghanistan. He has also held a Desk Officer appointment within the UK’s Counter Proliferation and Arms Control Secretariat, acting as the Ministry of Defence’s focal point in providing support to firstly UNMOVIC and, post-hostilities, the Iraq Survey Group.

1. Group Captain Clark, you are representing the military stakeholders in the SESAR Joint Undertaking’s (SJU) administrative board. What are the expectations of the military sector with regard to the programme?

Like all SESAR stakeholders, the military sees the need for a new European ATM system to meet the challenges facing the sector – we have no doubt about it. We are working to play our part in ensuring that SESAR meets these challenges. However, SESAR will need to accommodate the diverse needs of airspace users. The military has very specific needs tailored to the nature of its missions. SESAR will need to accommodate these needs because they won’t go away. We need operational freedom but are aware that this cannot be achieved unilaterally. SESAR has to develop a new generation of civil-military ‘performance based’ standards. This should lead to a new approach to certification, recognising military capabilities that prove to be equivalent to the required performance level.