Airforces

Nevada, it incorporates weapons

ranges and low-flying areas that

include mountains and valleys.

The ‘Flying Dragon’ Squadron

provided Block 40 F-16s as Red Air

and for the first time the exercise

also included MIM-104 Patriot

surface-to-air missiles to further

challenge the Blue Air assets.

The lead unit for the exercise was

the IAF’s 133 Squadron, which

orchestrated the content for Blue

Flag 2017. Its commander, Lt

Col Nadav, explained: “We began

working on this a year ago; it is

a massive exercise, on a level

that has never occurred here

before. As the lead squadron,

we’re responsible for the aerial

aspect of the training – what

the participants rehearse, which

scenarios and missions they

perform and what their rules are.”

Foreign participants

The exercise has involved a

growing number of nations as the

security situation in the Middle

East and Africa has evolved.

In 2013, aside from the IAF,

participants included Greece, Italy

and the United States. Two years

later Poland was also involved,

while the 2017 exercise added

France, Germany and India.

For the French, German and

Indian contingents this was the

first-ever formal visit to Israel. As

well as the active participants,

dozens of military attachés and

representatives came from other

countries in Asia, Europe and North

and South America. Among the

observers were candidates for the

next Blue Flag, scheduled for 2019,

including the Royal Australian Air

Force and the Royal Air Force.

On the foreign forces side,

the US, Hellenic and Polish

air forces arrived with F-16C,

’CJ and ’D models, the French

with Mirage 2000Ds, the

Luftwaffe with Eurofighters and

the Italians with Tornados.

In previous exercises, the US Air

Force sent F-15s from the 492nd

Fighter Squadron (FS) at RAF

Lakenheath, Suffolk. This year it

was the turn of the F-16s from the

510th FS at Aviano Air Base in Italy.

Lt Col Benjamin ‘Skynyrd’ Freeborn

is the commander of the 510th

FS: “There is no such thing as

working alone. Today we work in

coalitions, against ISIS or anyone

else. So it is important to practise

together and to practise common

abilities and language so that we

know how to act together if we

need to – conducting air diplomacy

as a bridge to regional stability.”

The touchdown of a Luftwaffe

fighter on Israel soil was a

significant event for the Germans

and their hosts alike. Lt Col Gero

von Fritschen, commander of

Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader

(TaktLwG) 73 ‘Steinhoff’, led the

German delegation: “It’s a very

special moment for us. We are

honoured to be here. The most

challenging part for us was to find

a common basis of understanding.

This exercise is focused on

Above: One of the six EF2000s from
Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader
73 ‘Steinhoff’ that made the historic
deployment to Israel. Serial 30+46
(GS031) carries an IRIS-T acquisition
round. Noam Menashe Below: F-16C
Block 40 Barak 514 (CJ-7, 90-0855)
gets airborne from Ovda. This
was one of six 101 Squadron ‘First
Fighter’ jets involved in Blue Flag

2017. Amit Agronov

Block 52 F-16C serial 4071 (JC-32, 03-0071) was part of the Polish Air Force contingent that brought six Fighting

Falcons from the 31 Baza Lotnictwa Taktycznego (31st Tactical Air Base) at Pozna ́n-Krzesiny. Noam Menashe

http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #358 JANUARY 2018 // 79

‘Tigers’ return

to their roots

Greece has been involved in the

international Blue Flag since the start

and arrived with F-16s from 335 Mira,

the Hellenic Air Force’s oldest squadron.

During the exercise the Greek pilots

learned that their participation also had

an historic resonance: the squadron had

been established in Israel 78 years ago,

at Ekron (now known as Tel Nof), as

part of the British Royal Air Force. After

the exercise, the HAF pilots planned

to visit the home of the squadron’s

original commander, Sqn Ldr Xenophon

Varvaressos, who at 97 is the oldest

living Greek fighter pilot. “We feel

honoured to be here again, flying over

Tel Nof escorted by Israeli F-15s,” said

Capt Vesalius Kalogridis, one of the 335

Mira pilots. “We can go back home

and share our experience with him. I

feel that even now, several decades

later, we have a lot in common.”