Monday the 9th of March marked the beginning of two intense weeks of training when Hellenic and French fighters taxied out for their first missions as part of the Iniochos 2026 exercise held at Andravida Air Force Base. Situated (or located) in the Western Peloponnese, Greece, Andravida Air Force Base is the home base of the 117 Combat Wing with 338 MDV (Mira Dioxis Vomvardismou, Fighter Bomber Squadron) flying the remaining F-4E(AUP) Phantoms and the Air Tactics Center (TEAK).
The original line up of participants was smaller than previous editions, but on the other hand, more helicopters were scheduled to attend this edition of the Iniochos exercise.
However, due to the growing tensions between the United States of America and Iran, followed by the build op of military assets in the Middle-East, the United States Air Force was the first participant that cancelled their participation with F-15E Strike Eagles and a single KC-135 Stratotanker.
A regular asset of the exercise is the Cyprus Air Force (Cyprus Air Command) AW-139, used for Search and Rescue operations. Israel and the United States of America started their air strikes against Iran on the last day of February. Shahed-type drones also reached Cypriot territory in the days after, resulting in the withdrawal of their participation. Poland participated this year without flying assets but with a Special Forces unit instead. Romania cancelled their participation in multiple exercises, including Iniochos, where they would participate with F-16s. The Montenegrin Air Force also decided to not attend this year with one of their Bell 412EPI transport helicopters.
This leaves Albania as the only foreign helicopter participant. The Helicopter Squadron (Skuadrilja e Helikopterëve) based at Tirana Heliport operates a variety of helicopter types, including three Airbus AS532AL Cougars of which one attended with a 11-person crew and a tactical Land Rover vehicle. Missions like transport, reconnaissance and the tactical transportation of foreign Special Forces were executed during the exercise by the Albanians.
A pair of Slovenian Air Force Pilatus PC-9Ms arrived at Andravida, to participate in the Exercise. These turboprops, assigned to152. LEESK (Letalska Eskadrilja) are often only seen a trainer aircraft, but they are a valuable asset to the exercise while conducting mostly Close Air Support (CAS) missions in low and medium threat environments in which six Slovenian aircrew received valuable training.
Six French Air and Space Force Mirage 2000Ds fighters, based at Base Aérienne 133, Nancy-Ochey, in Northern France, had the honour to be only foreign fast jet asset during this year’s edition.
The Hellenic Air Force participated with all type of fighters; F-16s, Mirage 2000, Rafale and F-4E(AUP) Phantoms, as well as helicopters and transport aircraft. In addition, the Hellenic Army, the Hellenic Navy and the Special Warfare command contributed to the exercise, decisively contributing to the complexity and realistic scenarios for aircrew to handle.
All the participants were pushed to their limits in a high tempo battle rhythm, facing the preparation and executing of their missions in challenging scenarios with all kinds of threats, including real SBAD (Surface-Based Air Defence) systems. Air operations versus Integrated Air Defence Systems (IADS), Offensive Counter Air and Airfield Attack, Air Interdiction/Special Targets, Ant-Surface Warfare, Slow Mover Protection (SLOMO), Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR), Dynamic Targeting (DT), Close Air Support (CAS), Strike Coordination and Reconnaissance (SCAR), Time Sensitive Targets (TST) and High Value Airborne Assets (HVAA) protect and attack missions had to be executed in challenging conditions where they were confronted with all kind of problems such as a limited number of available assets or munitions. Observers from Georgia, Serbia and Croatia watched the participants preparing, executing and debriefing their missions, day and night.
Although adapted as a single-base concept exercise since 2015, some assets however operated out of nearby Araxos air base, including the Rafales and Araxos based F-16s. A total of 914 sorties were flown within a two week span, making it an intense operational training for the aircrews and groundcrews, operating day and night.
Besides this, many missions were flown in the digital environment of the Synthetic Training Squadron which consist of ten flight simulators and one JTAC simulator). The Synthetic Training Squadron is part of the Air Tactics Center (TEAK) at Andravida Air Base.
The participants returned to their units with a lot of experience and knowledge, gained during their two weeks of intense training.