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Objectives of the Tiger Meet; Mont de Marsan, May 17, 2019

The NATO Tiger Meet 2019, part 2; Text and Photograph's by Alex van Noye

The NATO Tiger Meet is not only about the team spirit and the traditions which are being propagated. In addition to these social activities, it is also about training the tough reality of modern scenarios during various conflicts. Different scenarios are practiced daily in which two training waves a day are launched.

One of the most important objectives of the NATO Tiger Meet is the exchange or transfer of knowledge between the different participating countries. This concept enhances interoperability. This is often the central objective of the majority of the meeting participants. Different scenarios are made up during the preparation that are suitable for both the younger pilots and the very experienced pilots. Depending on the scenario, participants will take turns taking part in both the Allied Air Force (Blue Air) and the Aggressor (Red Air). During the missions, the combat aircraft are equipped with chaff and flare pods and interference equipment to simulate air operations as real as possible. In this way, the scenarios come very close to actual operations in a crisis area. The intensity of air missions requires a high level of expertise and highly qualified crews. The NTM largely takes place this year within a very large training area in France. This meeting allows all parties involved to train in international efforts. Common operational procedures are used for this and training with up-to-date threats makes the exercise feel like an operational reality. By using the tactics of each country in an ambitious environment, the exercise is lifted to a higher level. The current training location of the NTM in France gives the French Air Force the opportunity to test its new equipment and aircraft and to evolve operational national and international procedures.

Every year many participants participate in the NATO Tiger Meet. What is striking about this edition is that especially many countries from southwest Europe participate in this Tiger Meet on Mont de Marsan. The Tiger Meet is made up of more than 60 participating combat aircraft. The Tiger participants who fly with fighter planes, are; the French squadrons ECE 1/30 with the Rafale and Mirage 2000 and EC 3/30 with the Rafale, the Belgian 31 Squadron with the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the Italian 12° Gruppo with the EF2000 Eurofighter, the Spanish Ala 15 with the EF-18 Hornet, the German TaktLwG-51 with the Tornado IDS & ECR, the Austrian 1 JTS with the Saab 105 and

finally the Esquadron 301 from Portugal with the F-16 Fighting Falcon. In addition, a number of EE 3/8 Alpha-Jets were also used in the aggressor role. For electronic warfare, a Learjet from the German GFD was used. The entire exercise was guided daily from the air by two E-3 "AWACS" radar aircraft from the NATO and the French Air Force. In addition to the exercise with combat aircraft, units with helicopters are also active during the NATO Tiger Meet. The participating helicopter units this year, were; the Italian 21° Gruppo with the HH212, the British no 230 Squadron with two Pumas, the French EHRA 3 with the Gazelle, the British no 814 NAS with the Merlin and finally the 5 RHC with the EC665 Tigre HAP. In total more than 1500 men were involved in the entire Tiger Meet. The Tiger Meet is therefore a daily exercise of a very large scale and is therefore also one of the most prominent exercises in Europe.

A typical flight day during the NATO Tiger Meet is made up of two large flights. A large combined flight is often planned in the morning. This flight is the so-called COMAO wave (COMposite Air Operations). During this flight several sub missions will be flown during the scenario. Every participant has his own mission and role within the whole scenario. This year, the theme of the COMAO scenarios was emphatically on the planning of a large-scale international Entry Force of more than thirty to forty combat aircraft. An Entry Force is a fleet of planes and helicopters that, when invading a country or territory, first enters enemy territory at the start of a campaign. Well-known examples from the past of these types of missions are Operation Desert Storm in Iraq in 1991 and Operation Allied Force in Kosovo in 1999. During the NTM 2019 there will be training on the planning of these types of missions and especially on leading these missions. After the missions, extensive analyzes are released on the results of that day. They will jointly learn from what happened during the various sub missions. The second flight of the day consists of the basic and advanced flights. During this shadow wave, the participants of the Tiger Meet scenarios will fly missions that match their own level or the level of their own team. The main objective is to fly missions with or against aircraft of other types. These missions often consist of In Visual Range battles against other types of combat aircraft than their own types.

To properly follow and analyze the missions of the Tiger Meet, the French Air Force has the Distributed Mission Operation Center (DMOC). During this NATO Tiger Meet, the flown missions are immediately animated and analyzed within this special center. In the DMOC center, personnel have a real-time view of the situation in the active training area. This visualization is made possible by the JEANETTE software. This system is able to make a connection between the DMOC center and the aircraft in the training area through the Link 16 system. There is an experienced pilot in the DMOC center who can add experimental aspects to the missions that are flown. This experienced pilot is referred to in professional terms as the "Airboss" during the exercise. The Airboss leads the missions and applies changes to the missions to meet the training objectives of the participants in the Tiger Meet. The Airboss is assisted in the DMOC by two other experienced pilots who are referred to as the Range Training Officers (RTO). These two RTOs turn the available data into a real-time overview of the damage suffered in the various active teams in the air. The RTOs assess the results of the simulated fired air-to-air missiles and remove the aircraft which are hit from the simulation. At a later date, an implementation of the Live Virtual Constructive 16 (LVC16) system in the DMOC will make a possible mix of aircraft, simulations and simulated tracks within the same missions. This advanced system brings the possibilities for analyzing and implementing new scenarios to a next level for the French Air Force and its partners.




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