Poznań-Krzesiny, May 2018
For years, the NATO Tiger Meet has been one of the largest international military exercises in Europe. The 2018 edition of the NATO Tiger Meet took place in Poland at the 31st tactical air base Poznań-Krzesiny between14-25 May. Every year the European Tiger units send their aircraft to the Tiger Meet to train intensively together. This year, various CAMAO war scenarios were flown which imitate contemporary reality of war. Besides the intensive training, the NATO Tiger Meet also concerns the social aspects of the annual meeting with intention being to bring the audience and the participating units closer to each other.
Tiger Meet history
The origin of the NATO Tiger Meet dates back to the beginning of the 1960s when the 79th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the USAF and 74 Squadron of the RAF became involved in a joint training operation. More than a year later, a new tradition was born to bring squadrons together in a meeting with a tiger in their squadron emblem. These meetings were so successful that the American Mike Dugan (in those days a Lieutenant, ending his USAF career as a 4 star General) set up the NATO Tiger Association (NTA).
Hosting the Tiger Meet
Colonel pilot Rafał Zadencki has been the commander of the 31st tactical air base in Poznań since June 2017. During the NATO Tiger Meet, he was the Exercise Director (commander of the exercise). The 6.elt (6th squadron) is based at Poznan-Krzesiny and is operating with the F-16 "Jastrząb" Block 52+ Fighting Falcon and this unit is the only Polish member of the NATO Tiger Association and it has been a member since 2014. The 6.elt hosted the 22 squadrons from 13 countries during the Tiger Meet that included Italy, Spain, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Switzerland, Austria, France and Great Britain. In total, there were more than 70 aircraft and helicopters at Poznan during NTM2018 and more than 2000 soldiers took part in the exercise.
Participants
This year’s Tiger Meet was held with the aim to promote European cooperation. The units which participated came from all corners of Europe. The Polish host, the 6.elt, flew with six F-16s during the missions. In addition to the Poles, Belgium (31 Squadron), Greece (335 Mira) and the Netherlands (313 Squadron) also flew along with their F-16s. Besides the F-16 users, there were also three Eurofighter users who participated in the NTM2018. The countries participating with the EF2000 Eurofighter were Germany (TLG-74), Italy (12° Gruppo) and Spain (142 Escadron). In addition to the Eurofighters, the Germans also used Tornados from TLG-51. Hungary and the Czech Republic were both present with their Saab JAS-39 Gripens (59/1 Squadron & 211 TL). The French Navy participated in the NTM2018 with five Rafale Ms (11 Flottille) and the Austrian Air Force flew along with three Saab 105Öes (1 JTS). The Swiss Air Force was the only participant who is not a member of NATO. This country flew with the F/A-18 Hornet (Staffel 11) from Meiringen. All these fighters were based at Poznań-Krzesiny and the whole exercise was coordinated by an E-3 Sentry. This aircraft flew its missions from Poznań-Lawica on the other side of the city.
The British flew during the missions with a Merlin HM2 (814 NAS) and a Puma HC2 (230 Squadron). The Italians also had two helicopters at Poznan in the form of two AB-212 ICO helicopters (21° Gruppo). Finally, the Czechs were present with two Mi-24 "Hind" helicopters (221 LtBVr). The Czechs only participated in the first week of the Tiger Meet. In addition to these airfields, Tiger Meet missions were also flown from the airfields of the Polish Air Force Powidz, Mirosławiec, Świdwin and Malbork to support the missions.
Objectives of the COMAO Missions
For the participants of the NATO Tiger Meet 2018, the joint training was the main goal of the entire meeting according to Colonel Rafał Zadencki. The main objectives during the NTM2018 were to gain more knowledge during combined air operations through active involvement in mission planning. This meant that the participants of the NTM2018 were assigned to their mission or role and that they would implement the mission planning themselves. Force integration was the result of this way of working. The participants learned to solve various problems during the course of the exercise. As a result, the entire training course was largely focused on the execution of COMAOs (Combined Air Operations) and included a scenario of an international crisis in the context of conventional and hybrid warfare.
Aircraft were coordinated in the air by IADS to gain and maintain air superiority and to protect their own forces on the ground. During the attack missions, specialised aircraft were deployed in the SEAD role to eliminate enemy defences. Other attack aircraft could therefore attack and disable the important enemy positions. During the NATO Tiger Meet 2018, a total of nearly 1000 sorties were performed and the participants spent over 1600 hours in the air during the scenario missions. Two missions were carried out daily, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The morning mission often included the COMAO training and was therefore the largest flight of the day. Over 50 training missions took place as part of the ‘Shadow Wave’ flights, with parts from the different participating countries practicing separately. The 2019 Tiger Meet will be held in France, at Mont-de-Marsan airbase.
Photos: Alex van Noye
Text: Alex van Noye and Joris van Boven
The Rafale
Eurofighter Typhoon
Eurofighter Typhoon
An F-16 taxis past
The venerable MiG-21
The Rafale preparing for its role for the day
German Typhoon
German Airforce Tornado
Saab JAS-39 Gripen
An Antonov An-26 on a mission