Rafale C 135/30-GN in Dark Tiger livery. (All images: Alessandro Fucito/The Aviationist)
NATO Tiger Meet 2019 was attended by several special-colored aircraft. Here are some of those we have shot during the Spotter Day.
NATO Tiger Meet (NTM) does not need introductions. Most (if not all) of our readers already know it is an annual, multinational, two-week mid-size exercise attended by squadrons sporting Tiger (or feline) emblems. NTM is not an air show: the drills include all types of air-to-air and air-to-ground and a wide variety of support missions, comprising large COMAOs (Composite Air Operations). However, the most known feature of NATO Tiger Meet is that many aircraft from almost all units taking part in the exercise, are painted in rather flamboyant tiger color schemes.
This year’s NTM was hosted by EC 3/30 of the French Air Force at BA 118 Mont-de-Marsan, France, between May 13 and May 24.
On May 17, our photographer Alessandro Fucito attended the Spotter Day to take the shots that you can find in this post.
The GAF Tornado of the TaktLwG 51 ‘I’ with the 2019 livery.Mirage 2000 “Tiger is Coming” (with a pretty evident reference to Game Of Thrones fantasy drama TV series).Close up on the tail of the Mirage 2000 of the ECE 01/30 of the French Air Force was inspired to GOT.F-16A MLU of the Esq 301 of the Portuguese Air Force. The “Jaguares” returned back as flying participants in a NATO Tiger meet after 8 years and got the Silver Tiger Trophy as well as the Tiger Spirit Award. They will host NTM in 2020 at Beja AB, Portugual.The 2019’s special of the Italian Air Force 12th Gruppo was MM7312/36-34 F-2000A with the peculiar “Tiger Eye” on the tail.The 12th Gruppo of the Italian Air Force brought to France also the awesome 2018 special color MM7322/36-40.The “rusty” F-16AM of the Belgian Air Force’s 31 Sqn we already covered in a specific article few weeks ago.The Rafale C EC3/30 with the “10 Ans” (French for “10 years”) of the mechanical support squadron tail.Rafale C 135/30-GN in “Dark Tiger” livery.The Austrian Air Force SAAB 105OE with a special tigertail.The special HH-212 of the Italian Air Force 21° Gruppo.The French Patrouille de France in formation with a Rafale, Spanish EF-18M Hornet and Italian Eurofighter Typhoon during the Spotter Day.
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.
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