Bye-Bye F-16…
Dark clouds gathered on Friday afternoon, September 27, when seven Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16s, assigned to 312 Squadron, took off for their final flight. Their return at Volkel Air Base marked the end of 45 years of operating the F-16 within the Royal Netherlands Air Force. The weather did not play ball and the route over the Netherlands had to be rescheduled due to the storm, which resulted in a disappointment for many people who were waiting for the formation to come by.
Anatolian Phoenix 2023
On the 5th of June, the international edition of Anatolian Phoenix (Anadolu Ankası) started at the 3rd Main Jet Base Konya, hosted by the Turkish Air Force (Türk Hava Kuvvetleri) and lasted until Friday the 16th of June. Anatolian Phoenix is a Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) exercise for combat ready aircrew and personnel. Around four hundred fifteen personnel from, both ground and aircrew from various countries, gathered at the air base.
Anatolian Eagle 2023-2
Between the 2nd and the 12th of May, the Turkish Air Force (Türk Hava Kuvvetleri) hosted the annual international exercise ‘Anadolu Kartali 2023-2’, internationally better known as Anatolian Eagle, at their 3rd Main Jet Base in Konya, located near the city of Konya in the South-West part of central Türkiye. the Anatolian Eagle Training Centre at Konya was the main stage for both the national and the foreign participants from Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Qatar, the United Kingdom , the United Arab Emirates and NATO.
Hellenic Dromaders
When you think of waterbombers, you probably think of the well-known, often yellow painted, Canadair CL-415 waterbombers. In Greece, you can find the CL-415GR waterbombers, but also another rarely seen type of aircraft in military service: The Polish built PZL-Mielec M-18 Dromader. The Hellenic Air Force currently operates a fleet of M-18 and M-18BS Dromaders mainly for fire-fighting missions.
Anatolian Eagle 2022 – coming soon!
Stay tuned!
EFES 2022 – Combined Joint Live Fire Exercise
Between the 9th of May and the 9th of June, the largest planned Combined Joint Live Fire Exercise in Türkiye, EFES-2022, was held at the exercise and shooting range in the Doğanbey region of Seferihisar, in the district of Izmir, at the Aegean sea.
Anatolian Phoenix 2022-1
Close to 450 military personnel, twenty-one helicopters, fixed wing aircraft and an Unmanned Combat Arial Vehicle (UCAV) gathered at Konya Air Base, Turkey, for two weeks of intensive training. Between the 16th and the 27th of May, the Turkish Air Force (Türk Hava Kuvvleteri) hosted the international edition of the Anatolian Phoenix exercise at their 3rd Main Jet Base near the city of Konya in the South-West part of central Turkey.
Iniochos 2022 exercise
The Hellenic Air Force hosted the INVITEX (Invitation Exercise) Iniochos 2022 from the 28th of March until the 8th of April at Andravida Air Force Base, in the Western Peloponnese, Greece. Andravida Air Force Base is the home base of both the 117 Combat Wing with 338 MDV (Mira Dioxis Vomvardismou, Fighter Bomber Squadron) flying the F-4 (AUP) Phantoms and the Air Tactics Center (TEAK).
Frisian Flag exercise 2022
Freedom is taken for granted by many. Although, the current situation in the Ukraine proves otherwise and confirms that armed forces must be prepared to deploy at any time. Nowadays international conflicts cannot be solved by just a single country alone, thus training with allies is necessary. An exercise like Frisian Flag provides pilots a realistic training on an international level.
Skyline Aviation – the North Sea Aggressor
Skyline Aviation was founded in 1992 and nowadays it is a subsidiary of the AEC Skyline Holding. Operations started from Naval Air Station de Kooy with a Grumman Tiger and later a Mitsubishi Mu-2. Both were used during exercises with the Royal Netherlands Navy for tracking runs and target towing. A Learjet 36A was added to the inventory in February 1995, also for target towing
RCAF CC-150s at Eelde in support of Frisian Flag exercise
In the evening, on the 13th of March, A Royal Canadian Armed Forces CC-150 Polaris made a rare appearance at Groningen Airport Eelde, the Netherlands. The CC-150 Polaris, with serial 15003 arrived during the weekend with personnel in support of the Frisian Flag 2022 exercise that was scheduled to start later that month at Leeuwarden Air Base.
Bye-bye F-16! But no farewell yet…
On the 7th of June 1979, the first F-16 from the Royal Netherlands Air Force touched down at Leeuwarden Air Base. Now 42 years later, the last based F-16s were scheduled to depart to their new home base Volkel on the 1st of July 2021. Although slightly delayed with a couple of days due to the accident on the flightline with a Belgian F-16 participating in the Weapon….
Anatolian Phoenix 2019-1
The Turkish Air Force (Türk Hava Kuvvleteri) hosted the international exercise Anatolian Phoenix at their 3rd Main Jet Base in Konya, Turkey and was held between the 13th and the 24th of May. The city of Konya is located in the South-West part of central Turkey. Turkey, the Turkey Republic of Northern Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Romania, Qatar and the United Kingdom participated in the exercise.
Bahrain International Air Show
The fifth edition was held from 14 to 16 November at Sakhir Airbase, organized on a biennial basis by the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications and the Royal Bahraini Air Force in association with Farnborough International. The event was held under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and under the supervision of His Highness Shaikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
