AirForces Monthly – July 2018

ver the past 25 years

Frisian Flag has firmly

established itself as one

of the major live-flying exercises

in Europe. Hosted and organised

by Leeuwarden-based 322

Tactical Training, Evaluation

and Standardisation Squadron

(TACTESS), it’s very popular

among participating aircrews.

More than once, squadrons’

requests to participate have had

to be turned down simply because

available parking

space for aircraft at

Leeuwarden is limited:

during Frisian Flag,

every hardened aircraft

shelter and apron is

used to accommodate

as many visiting

aircraft as possible.

This year’s exercise,

between April 9 and 20,

involved up to 54 fast jets taking

off from the base during the

morning waves and 48 in the

afternoon. Weather conditions

enabled 18 of the planned 19

missions to go ahead as scheduled,

with only the morning mission

on April 13 cancelled due to bad

weather in the training areas.

The withdrawal meanwhile

of two of the four supporting

tankers at an early stage of the

exercise, due to other operational

commitments, did not seriously

hamper flying operations.

For the fifth

consecutive year,

tankers flying from

Eindhoven Air Base

participated in a dedicated

exercise held in parallel to Frisian

Flag, called European Air-to-Air

Refuelling Training (EART, see

accompanying boxed item).

With Frisian Flag, the Royal

Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF)

offers NATO allies and Partnership

for Peace (PfP) nations a low-cost

alternative to the well-known Flag

exercises held in North America,

and owes its popularity to a

number of factors – among which

is that Leeuwarden has organised

large-scale exercises and training

programmes such as the biennial

Fighter Weapons Instructor Training

(FWIT, see ‘Viper’ university,

January, p60-63) for decades now.

Frisian Flag is organised by

operational pilots rather than

at headquarters level – and

Leeuwarden, in the Netherlands’

Friesland region, has all the

necessary facilities on base plus

access to a large exercise area

in airspace over the North Sea.

Missions and assets

The missions are either offensive

counter-air (OCA) or defensive

counter-air (DCA). They are flown

under a high threat level and

cover air defence, elimination of

static and dynamic targets on the

ground and protection of high-

value airborne assets (HVAA)

such as AWACS and tankers.

The scenarios become more

complex as the exercise

progresses and include the

latest developments and lessons

learned from recent conflicts.

This year the participating jets

flew either in the air-to-air role

(US F-15s, German Eurofighters,

Polish MiG-29s and contractor-

operated A-4Ns), air-to-surface

role (French Mirage 2000Ds and

Polish F-16s) or as swing-role

assets (Dutch F-16s, Spanish

Hornets and French Rafales).

Units took turns in providing

aircraft for the opposing forces

(Red Air), which involved about

30% of all sorties flown.

North Sea battle

Eindhoven Air Base

participated in a dedicated

to be turned down simply because

between April 9 and 20,

consecutive year,

tankers flying from

O

Above: F-16AMs from Leeuwarden-based 322 TACTESS (front) and Volkel-based 312 Squadron over the North Sea.

The Royal Netherlands Air Force had a relatively large number of F-16s at Frisian Flag this year, with at least 16

fl ying in every wave. All photos Kees van der Mark unless stated Below: Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 71 (TaktLwG)

‘Richthofen’ participated in Frisian Flag 2018 with eight Eurofi ghters, including two borrowed from Nörvenich-based

TaktLwG 31 ‘Boelcke’ to ensure there were enough aircraft available for regular operations at Wittmund. Rene Kö hler

North Sea battle

72 // JULY 2018 #364 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

Exercise

Report Frisian Flag 2018