Special
The US Air Force’s 480th Fighter Squadron sent 18 aircraft and 320 airmen from
Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany to sunny Portugal for three weeks this winter. Paulo Mata joined the ‘Warhawks’ at Monte Real.
During the European winter, Monte Real air base offers welcome respite from the harsh weather conditions that can be encountered elsewhere on the continent. The latest 480th Fighter Squadron (FS) detachment patch depicted a weasel – symbolising the squadron’s suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD) role – surfing a wave, a reference to the highbreaking waves found at the nearby Nazaré beach. But behind the playful image lay hard work around the clock for the 480th FS during its tenure from February 2 to 22.
Monte Real, officially Base Aérea No 5 (BA5), is located in central Portugal. Since its inception in the late 1950s, this base has been the ‘Portuguese fighter town’ and today it’s home to the two Força Aérea Portuguesa (FAP, Portuguese Air Force) F-16 squadrons. It offers several maintenance facilities, not usually available at air base level, some of them a legacy of the Mid-Life Update (MLU) programme that was partly carried out at the base.
In addition, BA5 provides suitable accommodat…
