A French Air Force Mirage 2000D blasts off from Albacete. These jets took part in TLP 2018-1 alongside French Navy Rafale Ms. Stephan de Bruijn
Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16AMs were back at TLP for the first time since September 2016. Due to real-world taskings in the Baltic and the Middle East, the RNLAF command had postponed participation up to now. Stephan de Bruijn
Supporting assets included this Italian Air Force Gulfstream E-550A conformal airborne early warning (CAEW) aircraft and the Spanish Air Force’s rarely seen CASA EC-212 electronic intelligence (ELINT) platform. Stephan de Bruijn
MISSION: DEFEND BALTIONA. Enemy aircraft from the state of Bussia could interfere with our operations’. With full concentration, today’s mission commander (MC) is brainstorming with around 50 NATO pilots, plus meteorological and intelligence personnel. They are planning a realistic and complex combined air operation (COMAO) that will begin in three hours at Albacete air base, Spain, home of the Tactical Leadership Programme (TLP). Although it is mid-February, the weather in southern Spain is excellent.