Six IAF F-16C/D “Barak” Jets supported by G550 CAEW, B707 tankers and C-130 Have Just Landed At Nörvenich Air Base.
On Aug. 17, 2020, six Israeli Air Force F-16C/Ds “Barak”, belonging to the 101 and 105 Sqn from Hatzor Air Base arrived at Nörvenich Air Base, in western Germany, where they will remain for two weeks to take part in exercise Blue Wings 2020.
The jets, using radio callsign “ATOMI 1-6” were supported by three B707 tankers (using the radio callsign “GIANT1-2-3”); a G550 CAEW (Conformal Airborne Early Warning) “Nachshon Aitam” (radio callsign “GLORY 1”) and a C-130 (radio callsign “IAF133”).
Gelandet! Zum ersten Mal in der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland sind Kampfjets der @IAFsite in 🇩🇪 gelandet. Die 6 F-16 Flieger nehmen in den nächsten 2 Wochen an den Übungen #BlueWings2020 und #MAGDAYs teil. pic.twitter.com/lmOodt38Yu
— Team_Luftwaffe (@Team_Luftwaffe) August 17, 2020
Interestingly, tomorrow, Aug. 18, “as part of the exercise” a formation led by a IAF G500 with two Israeli F-16s and two German Air Force Eurofighters will carry out a flyover of the Dachau concentration camp, in memory of the Holocaust victims, and will then fly over the “Fürstenfeldbruck” Airport close to Munich, in memory of the 11 Israeli Olympic delegation members that were murdered in the 1972 Olympics terrorist attack.
“Remembering the Past, Shaping the Future” 🇮🇱🇩🇪
For the first time in history, the IAF and German Air Force will hold a bilateral training exercise in German skies. pic.twitter.com/Iyp8mxeoUp
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) August 15, 2020
The deployment of the Israeli combat aircraft to Germany could be tracked online thanks to ADS-B/MLAT:
Israeli Air Force KC-707 GIANT01 and G550 Nachshon GLORY1 westbound over #Sardegna pic.twitter.com/E8754uRNKa
— Manu Gómez (@GDarkconrad) August 17, 2020
Here’s a segment of radio conversation recorded by a Dutch airband listener:
It looks like the Israeli formation led by GIANT 1 was met by GAF Typhoons. Interestingly, as the radio conversation prove, the B707 was not willing to say the remaining fuel in minutes when asked by the German pilot (the answer is “we have a lot of fuel…”):
Israeli Air Force in Germany : 6 x F16 and B707 Tanker
Welcome in Europe !!
First part is the Giant01 , last part F16s Air 2 Air
(dont tell them the amount / minutes of fuel you have😂🤣 !! love it!!) pic.twitter.com/KNXxxOq5Cz
— ”The Lazy 🌴 Garden 🌴” Eindhoven Spotter (@EHEH_Spotter) August 17, 2020
H/T to Gerjon_ for the heads up and support in the preparation of this article!
