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NATO Tiger MeetJune 5-16, 2017 |
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| Location: Naval Air Station Landivisiau, France |
| Admission: Accredited Media and Spotters only |
| Parking: N/A |
| Value: Excellent |
| Rating out of 10: N/A |
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For its 53rd edition, it was the 11F of the Naval Air Station (NAS) Landivisiau, wich was organizing this important gathering from Monday the 5th to Friday the 16th of june 2017. Landivisiau is located in Brittany, the north-western region of France. The NAS is the training base for the French Navy´s figter jets and it is the home of Sqn 11, 12 and 17 all equipped with the Rafale Marine, for a total of 42. |
The annual event is a meeting point for all squadrons whose emblem generally a tiger, but can be a puma (cougar), lynx or a lion too.
Unfortunately some of the Tiger Squadrons are involved in other exercises or military operations around the world, therefore they could not participate.
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| The spirit of the Tiger is above all the spirit of camaraderie between the squadrons. The goal of this exercise is to exchange and be constructive from an operational point of view to improve working together during operations. This year 13 nations with 53 aircraft, 15 helicopter and 900 person were involved. |
| The daily flight operations were planned in two packages, in Combined Air Operations (COMAO) and relatively smaller packages (SHADOW WAVE). Beside the combat aircraft, airborne warning and control aircraft (AWACS), air refueling aircraft, attack helicopters, including search and rescue helicopters almost all of the type of air operations can be effectively enforced. |
The organization of the host nation was really brilliant.
The host squadron the 11F has painted a Rafale Marine in white and black. Fantastic! This year the French Air Force painted two Rafales: one two seater Rafale B from EC 03.030 "Lorraine" and one Rafale C from EC 01.030 "Cote d´argent" both from AB Mont-de-Marsan in the south of France. They looked definitely brilliant. Another eyecatcher was a JAS39 from the CzechAF with a very unusual painting on the tail. The 31.Sq of the Belgian Air Force has painted the tail in black with "Les Pirates Embarqués". That means: The pirates are going on board". Not to forget the French helicopter Gazelle and the Tiger and the Italian AB212 with a shark mouth. The design of the Swiss Air Force was not new, but the tail painting is always impressive. |
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| Media would like to express our thanks to the host nation especially the Naval Headquarter. Our special thanks for their great hospitality and assistance on base to Mme. C. (SIRPA Marine) and Mme. M-L. (Naval Station Landivisiau) with her famous team. |
| For 2018 the Polish Tiger Squadron will host the NATO Tiger Meet at Poznan-Krzesiny. |
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| NATO Tiger Meet participants : |
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French Navy and Air Force and Army
11F (Landiviseau), 6 x Rafale M
EC 03.030, BA118, (Mont-de-Marsan), 3 x Rafale B/C
EC 01.030, BA118, (Mont-de-Marsan), 4 x Rafale B/C
4F ( Lorient/Lann-Bihoué), 1 x E-2C
3EHRA (Etain/Rouvres), 4 x SA341/342
5RHC (Pau), 2 x EC665 Tiger
Swiss Air Force, Swiss AF
FL Staffel 11 (Meiringen), 5 x F/A-18 C/D Hornets
Italian Air Force, ItAF
36°Stormo/12° Gruppo (Gioia del Colle), 4 x EF-2000
9°Stormo/ 21° Gruppo (Grazanisse), 2 x AB 212 ICO
Royal Netherlands Air Force, RNLAF
313 sq (Volkel), 6 x F-16
Belgian Air Force, BAF
31sm (Kleine Brogel), 5 x F-16AM/BM
Czech Air Force, CzechAF
211tl (Caslav), 4x JAS39
221tl (Namest nad Oslavou), 1 x Mi-24
Austrian Air Force, AustrAF
1 JTS (Linz-Hörsching), 3 x S105Ö
Royal Air Force, RAF
230sq (Benson), 1 x Puma HC2
Royal Navy
814NAS (Culdrose), 2 x Merlin HM2
849NAS (Culdrose), 1 x Sea King ASaC7
NATO
1 sq (Geilenkirchen), 2 x E-3A Sentry
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Only on the weekend:
German Air Force, GAF
TLG74 (Neuburg), 4 x EF2000
TLG51 (Jagel) , 3 x Tornado ECR
Royal Norwegian Air Force, RNoAF
338Skv (Orland), 2 x F-16AM
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Report and photography by Peter Thivessen for
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