Category Archives: Military

Hold the Line

Last September the Fallschirmjägerregiment 31 of the Bundeswehr held a week-long exercise on and near the small airfield of Karlshöfen, which is north of Bremen. During one of the days, a Super Lynx of Marinefliegergeschwader 5 joined the action in order to exercise sling operations with the Super Lynx.

The Germany Navy operates a fleet of 24 Super Lynx Mk.88a helicopters

Purpose of the exercise on that particular day was to practice sling load operations between the army’s ground team and the navy’s helicopter crew. In order to do so, a Super Lynx traveled the short distance from Nordholz Naval Air Station to Karlshöfen airport.

Ground crews wait as the Super Lynx approaches the pickup points

After arrival at Karlshöfen, a short briefing was held with all participants and the underslung cable was attached to the cargo hook of the Super Lynx. Meanwhile, three pallets with “cargo” were positioned next to the runway.

The ground crew stands prepared as the Super Lynx approaches them

When everything was prepared, the helicopter crew took off and flew towards the first pallet. Over there the helicopter descended to about 5 meters so that the static line reached the ground riggers. Before any further action could be taken, first the riggers had to pick the line with a hook. This hook was grounded into the earth in order to discharge static electricity from the helicopter. Once this was the case, the pallet was hooked onto the cable and the helicopter hoisted it into the air.

The cargo is hooked onto the helicopter’s sling

The helicopter then flew a circuit with the 400 kilo cargo attached. The cargo was then lowered onto the ground and after grounding the helicopter again, the soldiers could unhook the cargo from the sling. All this was done directly underneath the helicopter, with the strong downwash of the rotorblades blowing at you.

After a circuit around the airfield, the cargo is dropped off again

This exercise was repeated at all three pickuppoints for about an hour, after which it was time to take the sling cable abooard again and to proceed back to Nordholz.

The days of the Super Lynx are numbered with the German Navy, as their successor – the NH.90 – is starting to enter service.

Naturally this could only be done after the team from MFG 5 made a nice flyby at the airfield.

The video below gives an impression how close the helicopter came during the exercise

Throwback – Exercise Cerberus Guard

In March 2013 the area around the former Twenthe Airbase was the scene of a large exercise called Cerberus Guard where airmobile forces had the objective to capture the airfield. This article is a throwback to the exercise.

Airmobile Brigade
Troops of 11 Airmobile Brigade captured the airfield

After capturing the airfield, an operating base was established from where the forward bases in Losser and Oldenzaal were supported. From these bases several actions took place, ammongst others in the FC Twente Stadium.

Helicopters from the Defense Helicopter Command approach the airfield in order to drop of troops.

But first during Exercise Cerberus Guard Twenthe airfield had to be captured. The night before, already some pathfinders were dropped close to the airfield. Then on Wednesday 20 March troops of 11 Airmobile Brigade were transported by Cougars and Chinooks of the Defense Helicopter Command to capture the airfield.

Chinook
A 298 Squadron Chinooks drops troops of 11 Airmobile Brigade at Twenthe airfield.

Troops were dropped close to the runway and fought their way towards the control tower, where the “enemy” occupied several buildings. The goal was to clear this area and to establish control of the airfield.

Twenthe army
Airmobile troops occupy the area next to the runway ait Twenthe airfield after being dropped of.
A Chinook brings in additional troops and supplies

After access to the airfield was secured, the Pathfinders took control of the runway, so that they could guide Hercules aircraft to the airfield. These aircraft would fly daily replenishment missions from Eindhoven Airbase to Twenthe, in order to supply the troops with all things they required for their mission. This ranged from food to ammunition.

This also proved to be a valuable training for the Hercules crew, as being able to perform tactical operations in the Netherlands is quite rare.

Hercules Twenthe
A C-130H-30 climbs out of Runway 06 after a tactical landing

Exercise Blue Wings 2020 – There’s a first time for everything

In August 2020 a truly unique exercise took place in Germany: Exercise Blue Wings 2020. This exercise marked the first time that aircraft from the German Luftwaffe and Israeli Air Force (IAF) operated jointly in German skies.

After the Luftwaffe had already taken part twice in Exercise Blue Flag, which took place at IAFs Ovda airbase, it was now time to return the honour. On the 17th of August, a detachment of 180 men and women from several IAF units started the exercise at Nörvenich Air Base, just south of Cologne. Nörvenich is the home of Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 31 “Boelcke”, flying the Eurofighter.

F-16C Barak
An F-16C-40-CF “Barak” thunders down Nörvenichs runway for another Blue Wings mission.

The first week of the exercise primarily consisted of getting to know the airspace in preparation for the “MAG (Multinational Air Group) Days” exercise – an international event that takes place four times a year.

An F-16D-40-CF Barak taxies to the runway for another exercise mission over southern Germany. During most of the missions four F-16s, one Nachshon Eitam and one KC-707 took part. First the supporting KC-707 and Nachshon Eitam would take off, after which the fighters followed.

On Tuesday the 18th of August, a mixed formation of German and Israeli aircraft perfromed a fly-by over the sites of Dachau Concentration Camp, in memory of the Holocaust victims, and Fürstenfeldbrück Air Base, in memory of 11 Israeli Olympic delegation members that were murdered in the 1972 Olympics terrorist attack.

A visiting Israeli delegation means an increased level of security. Next to Luftwaffe patrols inside the airbase, the outside was guarded by German police, as well as unmarked (but clearly present) Israeli security

As part of the exercise, six “Barak” (F-16C/D) fighter jets, two “Re’em” (Boeing 707) aircraft, a “Nachshon-Eitam” (Gulfstream G-550) and a “Nachshon-Shavit” (Gulfstream G-V) aircraft landed at the Nörvenich Air Base. The Baraks were flown by members of 101 and 105 Squadrons, both based at Hatzor. The Re’ems were operated by 120 Squadron (nicknamed Giants), normally based at Nevatim. The two Nachshons were both flown by 122 Squadron, also based at Nevatim.

It does not get more ugly than this. The Nachshon Eitam is a highly modified Gulfstream 550 business jet and is used for Conformal Airborne Early Warning tasks.

101 Squadron

101 Squadron of the Israeli Air Force, also known as the First Fighter Squadron, is Israel’s first fighter squadron, formed on May 20, 1948, six days after Israel declared its independence. Initially flying the Avia S-199, it has since operated the Supermarine Spitfire, North American Mustang, Dassault Mystere IV, Dassault Mirage IIICJ, IAI Nesher and IAI Kfir. It currently operates out of Hatzor Airbase, flying the F-16C Fighting Falcon.

101 Squadrin F-16C
The 101 Squadron badge is clearly shown on the tail of F-16C-40-CF 536

105 Squadron

The 105 Squadron of the Israeli Air Force, also known as The Scorpion, was founded in December 1950 as a Spitfire squadron and has since operated the P-51 Mustang, Dassault Super Mystere, IAI Sa’ar, and F-4 Phantom II. It currently operates F-16Ds at Hatzor Airbase.

105 Squadron has the nickname Scorpions, which can also seen through the tail art/camouflage on this “Barak”

120 Squadron

The 120 Squadron of the Israeli Air Force, also known as the Desert Giants (former International Squadron), is a Boeing 707 Phalcon and KC-707 Re’em squadron based at Nevatim Airbase. Eventually the KC-707s will be replaced with newly ordered KC-46s.

This KC-707 Re’em proudly sports the badge of 120 Squadron on the nose.

122 Squadron

The 122 Squadron of the Israeli Air Force, also known as the Nahshon Squadron (former Dakota Squadron), is a G550 squadron based at Nevatim Airbase. The Squadron has five G550 (G550 “Nachshon-Eitam” and G-V (“Nachshon-Shavit”) with two aircraft are used for Airborne early warning and control (CAEW or Conformal Airborne Early Warning, IAI EL/W-2085) and three are used for Signals intelligence (SEMA or Special Electronic Missions Aircraft).

Nachshon IAF
Emphasizing that this is a special missions aircraft is the fact that there are no nationality markings or registration worn on this Nachshon Shavit; the registration could only be seen on the aircraft’s crew ladder.

TLG 31 “Boelcke”

The Tactical Air Force Wing 31 “Boelcke” is one of four Eurofighter squadrons. With the fighter jet, the squadron makes its contribution to alliance and national defense. This mission includes ensuring air combat capability and establishing the Eurofighter’s air-to-ground capability for the Air Force. The squadron develops procedures and training principles for pilots and technicians for all German Eurofighter associations in order to establish the air-to-ground capability of the fighter jet.

A “Boelcke” Eurofighter is about to land at its homebase Nörvenich

Sources: Luftwaffe, Israeli Air Force, Wikipedia, Scramble

Sleeping beauties in the morning sun

In August 2020 some work needed to be done in the depots of the Dutch Nationaal Militair Museum. Because of this, several sleeping beauties (otherwise not visible to the public) were parked outside in the morning sun on the platform of the former Soesterberg Airbase.

USAF F-4 Phantom Soesterberg
The true star of the exhibition is this F-4 Phantom in the colours of the 32nd TFS that used to be based at Soesterberg

The National Military Museum is situated on the former air base at Soesterberg. It combines the collections of the former Military Aviation Museum in Soesterberg and Army Museum in Delft. There are numerous pieces on display, including tanks, planes, armoured vehicles and helicopters.

Fokker S-14 Machtrainer Soesterberg
The Fokker S.14 is a unique Dutch product; in total only 21 have been built and 3 have been preserved. This L-11 stands in a beautiful morning sun on the platform near the NMM in Soesterberg.

Considering the fact that a heatwave was taking place, as well as that we were in the middle of school holidays, the choice was made to visit the site in the early morning.

T-37 Soesterberg
The NMM does not only display Dutch aircraft, but also foreign aircraft related to Dutch avaiation. In this case the T-37 Tweety Bird is displayed since Dutch (and other NATO) pilots received their jet training on this aircraft in the USA

At 7.30 in the morning the August summer sun provides a beautiful low light, which emphasizes the beautiful lines and pristine conditions of these aircraft. Some are so well preserved that you could almost fire them up and fly away.

NF-5B KLu Soesterberg
The NF-5 was a variant of the F-5 that was license built in Canada. This variant was similar to the CF-5, but had more powerful engines. In total 105 NF5’s were delivered to the Koninklijke Luchtmacht. This NF-5B wears the markings of 316 Squadron.

These aircraft were all moved back inside once the maintenance work in the depot was finished. When will we see them aiagin? Hopefully very soon….

Hawker Hunter Soesterberg
Hawker Hunter N-122 on the platform in front of the NMM with the ATC control tower of the former Soesterberg Airbase in the background.

Do you want to know more about the NMM and the former Soesterberg Airbase? Then visit the WEBSITE of the NMM.

Exercise Épervier 2019

From August 23 to 30, 2019, six Mirage 2000-5 of the Groupe de Chasse 1/2 “Cigognes” participated in exercise Épervier 2019, from Payerne air base in Switzerland. This is an air training that allows French air defense pilots, to perform complex missions with the Swiss F/A-18 Hornet.

Mirage takeoff at Payerne during exercise Épervier 2019
An Armée de l’Air Mirage 2000-5 departs from Payerne’s runway

Arriving from Luxeuil Air Base, the 79 airmen joined the town of Payerne in northwestern Switzerland on August 23rd. For the 2019 edition of the exercise “Épervier”, the fifteen pilots of the “Cigognes” trained missions of a very high tactical scenarios alongside Swiss F/A-18 Hornet pilots of Fliegerstaffel 11. Organized by the Swiss Air Force, on their largest military air base, this bilateral exercise aims to consolidate the existing links between the two nations but also to carry out joint air defense missions: the main mission of the Mirage 2000-5 and Swiss F/A-18 Hornets.

Mirage and Hornet at Payerne during exercise Épervier 2019
Mirages and Hornets return after a mission
Mirage 2000-5 at Payerne during exercise Épervier 2019
A “Cigognes” Mirage in front of Payerne’s famous church

To ensure the “first-in-first” air defense mission, the fighter jets trained four rounds a day for one week to deal with air-to-air threats during complex-level missions. mixed fighter forces operation (MFFO), also known as mixed patrols, composed of both Mirages and Hornets.

Mirages taxi out for another mission during exercise Épervier 2019
Mirages taxi out for another mission
Hornet landing with traffic sign
Watch out for low flying aircraft

Fighting over the snow-capped Swiss mountains, the pilots, whether they are young qualified or more experienced patrolmen, play blue air (friendly forces) and red air (enemy forces) in turn.

Airbus A.400M during exercise Épervier 2019
Transportation support was delivered with an A.400M

On Friday 30 August one more mission was flown before the French contingent returned to their homebase in Luxeuil.

75 years Market Garden commemoration

The month of September is traditionally the period when Operation Market Garden is commemorated in the Netherlands. This year was the 75th anniversary of this failed operation.

Airborne soldiers dropped over the Ginkel heath

On Friday the 20th of September the Ginkelse Heide area was the scene of the rehearsals for the 75 Years Market Garden commemmorations.
Since I had the idea that the crowd would be immense on the Saturday, I decided to have a look at these rehearsals.

That day three waves of paradrops were flown. I missed the first wave, since it was decided to close the N224 road at that point. I was then stuck in the forest, 600 meters away from the drop zone.

When the 2nd wave was flow, I quickly realised that light conditions were terrible, looking straight into the sun. I therefore decided to relocate and was able to face the drops from the front when the 3rd wave was flown.
All in all it was a very impressive sight to see all these paratroopers jump from the planes.

One of the international participants was a United States Marines Corps Hercules
Soldiers jump from a Koninklijke Luchtmacht Hercules

Exercise Orange Bull

Between 1 and 5 July 2019 exercise Orange Bull was held in the Netherlands. Part of the exercise took part at Twente Airport.

C-130 Hercules Koninklijke Luchtmacht
A 336 Squadron Hercules takes off from Twente Airport

Between 1 and 5 July 2019 exercise Orange Bull was held at Twente Airport. Orange Bull is an exercise from the Royal Netherlands Air Force 336 Squadron, based at Eindhoven Airbase. During this exercise several special forces like Commandos and the 11th Airmobile Brigade took part as well.

C-130 Hercules Koninklijke Luchtmacht

As part of the exercise, Twente Airport was the location for Tactical Air Landing Operations. This meant that that army pathfinders would guide the aircraft to the runway, where they had indicated the landing zone with orange markers. The loading crew would then quickly load and unload troops and vehicles, after which a tactical departure would follow.

C-130 Hercules Koninklijke Luchtmacht
Tactical departure from Twente Airport’s runway 05

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Tour de Suisse – Day 3: Axalp

After our days at Payerne and Buochs & Emmen, we saved the best for last. On Thursday the 11th of October we visited the Fliegerschiessen at the Axalp – Ebenfluh range, one of the things that had been on my to-do list for a very long time.

Getting there

Tschingel climb
The climb onto the Tschingel started in the dark

Visiting Axalp airshow is not an easy thing to do, as the shooting range where this even takes place is located at an altitude of 2240m. This means that you can’t simply drive there, get out of your car and enjoy the show. There is a whole lot more effort required.

Tschingel Axalp
There is not really a path towards Tschingel

In order to be on the Tschingel mountain on time, an early start was required. At 05.30 the shuttle bus was taken from Brienz train station. This bus brought you in 40 minutes to the mountain village of Axalp at an altitude of 1540m. At this point we transited into the Axalp-Windegg skilift that brought us to an altitude of 1910m. from there on the “fun part” started, a 2 hour walk of about 2km, in which a further 300 meters were scaled. This is no walk in the park at all, as you start in the dark (it only starts to get light after 7.00) and the terrain is very unprepared/steep, there is no real track. You only know where to go because of the guidelines set out by the military and the lights of other climbers in front of you; a torch is absolutely needed.

Tschingel Axalp
The last part of the climb is absolutely very steep

So, after climbing for about 2 hours the destination was finally reached. The last part of the climb was for sure the toughest with a gradient of approximately 60%. At this point I was sweating like a donkey and was very happy that I brought an extra t-shirt, as the first one was soaked and there was a bitter cold wind. After I had regained my breath, I could finally enjoy the beautiful view over lake Brienz and the surrounding mountains.

Tschingel Axalp
The spectacular view from the spectator area

We then waited for the first aircraft to arrive at the Axalp range. The Axalp-Ebenfluh range is a shooting area that was established in 1942. The Swiss Air Force uses this area to practice air-to ground gunnery, during which the Hornets and Tigers shoot their canons on ground targets mounted on the rock face. Every year in October this airshow is organized so that the audinece can also view the shooting exercises. Next to that, other aerial displays are also shown on these days.

axalp target
Shooting at one of the targets with high-explosive rounds

The morning part

The airshow only takes place in the afternoon, but in the morning there is still plenty to see, as the shooting part is practised by the F-5s and F/A-18s. During these practice runs we got our first taste of what awaited us later that day. It all started with the arrival ofthe Hornets, this formation of four aircraft flew low though the valley, meanwhile dropping flares, to ensure they got our attention.

Then they approached the targets from all different directions, shooting their cannons and using the afterburners to manoeuvre through the area.

Hornet Axalp

Once the Hornets had finished their part of the fun, it was time for the F-5 Tigers. The shooting from the Tigers was te main reason why I came here, as this was the final time that the F-5s would shoot their cannons at the Axalp Range. The F-5 will finally be withdrawn from service in 2026 (a replacement is currently being sought), but will already be disarmed this year. From then on, the F-5 will only act as an Agressor aircraft and will still perform target towing duties. The F-5 pilots surely wanted to leave in style, as already during the practice runs they showed up from behind the audience and shot their guns at the same moment. Compared with the full afterburners, this scared the hell out of you.

F-5 Axalp

Then it was time for the lunch break, or as the Swiss probably call it Raclette-time. Everywhere around us we saw campinggaz burners coming out of the backpacks and soon people were enjoying their fondue or raclette at 2240m altitude.  We came to the conclusion that it was much easier to walk towards the catering tent and just buy a Raclette Sandwich over there.

EC.635 Axalp

Towards the end of the lunchbreak Cougar helicopters started flying in from nearby Meiringen airbase to drop of the VIP guests, these guests did not have to walk up the mountain and had an easy arrival. At this point also the REGA helicopter and Swiss Air Force rescue helicopters arrived. They were both parked at the mountain in order to be ready to provide assistance for the several thousands of spectators, if need be.

Rega EC.635 Axalp
The Rega rescue helicopter parked at Axalp

Afternoon action

Then it was time for the airshow to start. This started with the Hornets that we had already seen practising in the morning. Since we now already had an idea what to expect, we could try to get the best pictures of their display.

Hornet Axalp

Axalp

Next up was the Cougar display, this display was started with a huge amount of flares and then hugged the mountainsides. A nice extra was the wave from the crew, wearing orange gloves for this.

Cougar Axalp

Cougar Axalp

After the Cougar had left, 2 more Cougars approached. Both were carrying Bambi Buckets full of water, to display the fire fighting skills of the Swiss Air Force. Both of them dropped the water right on the target, so this must have been a succesfull mission.

Then narrator then warned us that an unidentified aircraft was approaching the area and that the Swiss Air Force mission control centre would scramble two QRA Hornets from Payerne. The fully armed aircraft quickly intercepted the intruder (in reality a Swiss Air Force Citation jet) and then showed all the techniques that are used in Air Policing. The goal of this was to establish contact with the intruding aircraft to ultimately force him to land at a desired airfield.

Hornet Axalp

Hornet Axalp

After the Citation had “landed” successfully, three aircraft showed up. These aircraft were the PC-7, PC-21 and F/A-18, as every fighter pilot will fly on all these types before becoming a qualified fighter pilot.

The formation was then split up, after which the Hornet Solo Display was performed. When the Hornet finished the display, the PC-21 display took over, showing the flexibility of this new training aircraft.

Hornet Axalp

Hornet Axalp

PC-21 Axalp

After this display was finished, the moment we had waited for came, the F-5s approached the area once more for their final shooting exercise. This display was even faster and louder than the one we had enjoyed in the morning. This did not make it easy to take pictures, but just enjoying the sights and sounds was already great. Finally two more F-5s joined the fun, and these had high-explosive rounds loaded into their cannons.  Seeing them shoot at the targets was an absolute spectacle.

F-5 Axalp

As this was the final F-5 round at Axalp, the organisation had arranged something special to close this era. The six F-5s that had been shooting at Axalp joined up with the six Patrouille Suisse F-5s and toghether this formation of 12 Tigers flew across Axalp. The Patrouille Suisse then continued to show their complete show, which is rather spectacular in this mountain environment.

F-5 Axalp

The Patrouille Suisse show was also the final act of the day, so we could start the descent towards the skilift. If you thought that climbing the mountain was tough, then be prepared for this. As the mountain is very steep, only stepping dow carefully was possible (even though some locals were almost running down). This has a great impact on your legs, knees and ankles. Once at the skilift, it was finally time for some rest, which continued in the bus down towards Brienz.

View towards the Tschingel when walking back towards the skilift.

Fire Bucket Operations in Hengelo

In the weekend of 30 June 2018 the Twence waste recycling facility in Hengelo was struck by a large fire. The fire was so intense that the Koninklijke Luchtmacht had to assist the fire brigade with Chinook helicopters.

On the evening of 30 June 2018 the fire brigade was alarmed for a fire at Twence waste recycling. Upon arrival at 23.00, it quickly became clear that a lot of resources and water were needed to extinguish the large pile of garbage. Throughout the night extra fire crews were alarmed to avoid further spreading of the fire.

Soon it became clear the a fire this large could not be battled in the traditional way. Therefore the fire brigade asked the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF/Koninklijke Luchtmacht) for assistance; in the middle of the night Fire Bucket Operations (FBO) was alarmed. FBO is a partnership between the RNLAF, fire brigade Safety Region North and East Gelderland (VNOG) and the Institute for Physical Safety (IFV).

In the morning of the 1st of July, a RNLAF CH-47D Chinook  flew to Hengelo to assist the fire brigades. Later in the afternoon a second Chinook arrived. Next to the helicopter crew, a FBO team was on site. This team consist of the Fire Brigade Heli-Team and the Mobile Air Operations Team (MAOT DHC). This team coordinates the helicopter operations and also makes sure that the 10,000 liter Bambi Bucket is hooked up to the Chinook.

During the next 2 days, Chinooks flew to a quarry next to Boekelo in order to pick up water. The vicinity of this quarry made it possible to perform many runs over the fire. Normally approximately 10 runs could be made before the helicopters had to fly to Deelen Airbase for refuelling. The last drops were made around 20.00, after which the Bambi Bucket was returned to the FBO team and the Chinook returned to Gilze-Rijen airbase.

 

As a result of the assistance with the Chinooks, the fire brigade was able to contain the fire and reduce the smoke in a substantial way.  In the evening of 2 July the fire brigade announced that the fire was under control.