"No matter how modern the weapons, its the men that use them"
A late evening landing at Konya Main Jet Base provided us with a small glimpse of things to come. There were already many aircraft on the ramps, and greeting us a the civil terminal was a Turkish Air Force C-130E Hercules from 222 Filo. After that is was a quick drive towards the hotel for a good night of sleep, because the following two days proved to be very hard.
"Train Fighters for War"
Lessons learned during wars, like both Gulf Wars showed that Air Power would play a major part in the begin stage of a future war. Therefore and with the rapid modernization of the Turkish Air Force the exercise Anatolian Eagle was created. AE trainings are close to real war which is build up from easy to hard, and to test the knowledge and skills of all who are involved during the training. Also AE is used get a higher level of training to find the mistakes and inefficiencies. Red and Blue forces are kept apart from each other, to be as realistic as possible during AE. The red forces are aggressors which are highly skilled pilots who have many flying hours. But also once started as a first timers during AE, and are a reliable source for training. Blue forces are the international and national squadron`s for whom it may be the first time to enter a large scale exercise.There is also White headquarters which acts as the "brain" for AE, from here the training is planned and studies are are being held.
Command Control Center is used for all the information on the aircraft location, position and flight information. There is a direct feed trough ACMI (Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation)
for a real time look on what is happening. Also AWACS (Airborne Warning And Control System) from NATO are there for the Bleu forces, unfortunate for the red forces they only have the ground radars. The AWACS system is used to direct fighters to their target locations, and directing counterattacks on enemy forces, both air and ground.
"Best of days till now"
At the main gate of the air base we were greeted by the Turkish Military to get your self checked in, receive a badge and let the dog sniff out your camera bag.
After that we boarded the bus which also had water (Thanks for that) and went on base.
With the first aircraft coming down the taxi way it was already clear that this would be the best of days till now. Almost everything was possible, head on shot, side shot, take off, landing and so on. The main thing was to use your common sense on what to do, and most important ask the guide before you do. During the time between take off and landing various places around the base where visited. All the flight line`s except where the U.A.E. and Saudi aircraft where given access, most popular off course the Phabulous Phantoms flightline.
At least 8 were beautifully parked for good pictures, also located close by where the Gougars of 135 Filo from which 2 where outside and 1 made some local flights.
Also a quick visit to the F-5 flightline where 11 where waiting there faith to come, we where told that most of them are for spare parts to be used on the Turkish Stars NF-5.
Next was the F-16 flightline where a lot of them where parked, i have never seen so many Turkish Air Force Falcon`s at one time. After this welcome break it was back for the recovery off AE aircraft. Again you could stand where you want as long as common sense was in place, and don`t forget to ask. With a great lunch in the cafeteria and with some goodies in the bag we we still had a afternoon off aviation fun.
Participants that attended
United Arab Emirates With 6 F-16E Desert Falcon from Shaheen Sqn
Royal Saudi Air Force With 8 F-15C/D Eagle`s from 13 Sqn
Turkish Air Force F-16C/D Fighting Falcon from 141/151/152/191/192 Filo
Turkish Air Force F-4E Phantom from 111/132 Filo
And all support aircraft like KC-135, C-130, C-160 an CN-235
"Thank you"
How many words i put down i keep getting back to two words Thank you.
With the access we have had during these two days, and the privilege to attend Anatolian Eagle, we can only be thankful to our hosts for giving us this opportunity.
So i would like to thank the people within the Turkish military, our guides, air crew and all the people involved for making this possible. And hopefully seeing you in the future again.
And also a big thanks to 4 Aviation.
