Airforces

actical Leadership Programme (TLP)

2017-3 took place at Albacete-Los

Llanos air base, central Spain, from

September 11 to October 6, 2017. The Magyar

Légiero ̋ (Hungarian Air Force, HUNAF) Gripens

made their debut alongside more familiar F-16s,

F/A-18s, Typhoons, Tornados and E-3 Sentries.

Three Gripens (serials 31, 34 and 35)

from the 1. harcászati repülőszázad

(1st Tactical Fighter Squadron) ‘Puma’

participated in the flying course.

They were accompanied by six pilots, a

ground control intercept (GCI) officer and

36 ground crew from the parent MH 59.

Szentgyörgyi Dezső Repülőbázis (59th

Tactical Fighter Wing, TFW). During the

course, the Gripens alternated between Blue

Air (callsign ‘Fado’) and Red Air (‘Tonic’).

Maj Tibor Molnar outlined his impressions of

the course to AFM: “TLP provides a very high

standard of training for NATO countries. The

knowledge one can learn from TLP – whether

it is an academic or flying course – is vital to

become a leader on a tactical level. It would

be a boost for NATO if we were able to do

all our daily training at such a high level. It is

JAS 39C Gripens from the 59th

Tac tic a l Fighter Wing of the

Hungarian Air Force recently took

part in NATO’s Tac tic a l Leadership

Programme for the first time. Maj

Tibor Molnar told Salvador Mafé

Huertas why the exercise can

make a participant ‘one of the

finest pilots on earth’.

‘PUMAS’

T

TRAIN IN SPAIN

SQUADRON BADGES

Hungarian Gripens at TLP

52 // JANUARY 2018 #358 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com