343 Squadron - Red Flag Exercise

The Red Flag exercises, held periodically at the Nellis Air Force Base since 1975, are very realistic aerial war games. The purpose is to give pilots from the U.S., NATO and other allied countries an opportunity to practice and refine their skills for real combat situations. This includes the use of “enemy” hardware and live ammunition for bombing exercises within the Nellis complex. The exercises with flares and all kinds of aircraft can make a spectacular show, especially at night. There are usually two or three sorties per day (except on weekends): One or two sorties during daytime and one in the evening or at night. The night exercises usually inlude only one half of the daytime forces.

There are two teams, the good guys (Blue Team) and the aggressors (Red Team). The Red Team is composed of Nellis AFB-based pilots specially trained for this purpose, flying F-15 and F-16 aircraft. The Blue Team is composed of the various guest “players” in their native aircraft.

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330 Squadron “Thunder” 20 years in service 1989-2009

Today on 20th of February 2009 in 111 Combat Wing placed in Nea Aghialos a special ceremony was organized for the 20 years and 55.000 fligh hours of F-16 Fighting Falcon in service of the Hellenic Air Force.

During the ceremony for the 20 years in service a special anniversary painted F-16 was exhibited in  the shelter of Hellenic Air Force 330 Squadron “Thunder”. Please take a look at the following picture that was taken from Kostas Alkousis and generously given to www.airforce.gr :

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380 Squadron Delivery of EMBRAER

On Thursday 12 of February 2009 a ceremony took place in 112 Combat Wing Eleusina for the operational delivery of EMBRAER aircrafts to the Hellenic Air Force. The ambassador of Brazil and Sweden in Greece were also there.

A few words about EMBRAER in Hellenic Air Force service:

The EMB-145H AEW&C is an airborne Command and Control Platform (Command & Control - C2) with the capability of participation in air and surface operations.

Hellenic Air Force has four (4) aircrafts that belong to 380 AEW&C SQN. (Airborne Early Warning & Control).

The EMB-145H AEW&C can perform the following missions:

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335 Bomber Squadron of the Hellenic Air Force

The 335 Squadron with callsign “Tiger”, is the oldest squadron of the Hellenic Air Force, as it was established when Greece was under German occupation, in October 1941 at the Palestinian airport of Akir, i.e. a few months after Greece’s total occupation by the Germans.

The first squadron pilots were officers of the Hellenic Royal Air Force, who had been sent to Iraq since 1940 to be trained by British officers, as well as many pilots who abandoned Greece after the occupation, for carrying on the liberation fight.

The squadron was initially equipped with the fighter aircraft Hurricane-IIB and thereafter with the Hurricane-IIC and was subordinated to the RAF 339 Combat Wing. With these aircraft, it operates until December 1943, when the modern Spitfire VB and VC replaced them.

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336 Bomber Squadron of the Hellenic Air Force

336 Squadron is today under 116 Combat WIng placed in Araxos Air Base. Read some Historical information about 336 Bomber Squadron.

The 336 Squadron with callsign “Olympos”, was established for the 1st time, on February 25, 1943 at the “Landing Ground 219″ airport near Cairo, Egypt. Its first name was 336 “Hellenic Royal Fighter Bomber Squadron”. The 336 Sqn was subordinated to the RAF 219 Combat Wing, and it was the second FB Squadron of the Hellenic Royal Air Force.

The squadron was initially equipped with 21 Hurricane-IIC aircraft, and had a total of 309 men, with 26 pilots.

On April 4 1943, it is transferred to the desert, at the LG121 airport, which was located near Sidi Barrani, Egypt, and it stayed there until January 1944. From April 11, 1943 the Squadron was full operational.

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