From 12 to 23 June 2023, up to 10,000 participants from 25 countries with 250 fighting aircraft will train in air operations in European airspace.

The air drill will take place in the airspace of Germany under the command of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), while the fighter aircraft from NATO partner countries will be stationed at various locations in Germany during the exercise.

Hellenic Air Force F-16 fighter jets are stationed in Lechfeld, Bavaria, along with the US A-10s.

In particular, Air Forces from Belgium, Bulgaria, Britain, France, Germany, Denmark, Greece, Estonia, the USA, Japan, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Latvia, Luxembourg, Norway, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia, Turkey, the Czech Republic, and Finland will participate in training simulation scenarios of activation of “Article 5”, that is, collective defence of allied territory.

According to NATO, the participants will train in Composite Air Operations (COMAO) in training areas over Germany and they will also operate in the Baltic countries and Romania.

The types of aircraft participating in the exercise are: Boeing F-15 Eagle, Boeing F/A-18A-F Hornet/Super Hornet, Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon, Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, Eurofighter Typhoon, Panavia Tornado, General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper, Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules, Learjet, Airbus A400M, Airbus C295M, Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, Airbus A3030 Falcon, Saab JAS 39 Gripen C/D, AWACS, Leonardo C-27J Spartan, and Boeing KC-46A Pegasus.

Also read: Ministry of Defence | Multinational CIMIC Exercise “ARGONAUT 2023”