A Good Ending for Exercise Loyal Arrow

June 17, has seen the concluding ceremony of Loyal Arrow, the NATO-led air exercise. The host for this exercise has been the air base of the F 21 Wing. It was the moment for personnel of the ten participating nations to thank each other after nine days of air exercises. There were representatives from most of the participating countries at the concluding ceremony.

A Swede, a Spaniard and a Brit…

One of the aims of exercise Loyal Arrow was to develop methods for international cooperation. When the German Air Force during the exercise asked the Air Operations Officer of the F 21 Wing, Mats Hakkarainen, if one of the Swedish pilots would like to join a mission that included aerial refuelling, they quickly got an answer.  
– We hope to get training in aerial refuelling in the near future, so I thought it would be an excellent opportunity for one of our pilots to have that experience, says Mr. Hakkarainen.

Aerial Refuelling

The “flying gas station”, a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker, takes off from Kallax air base loaded with more than 150 000 pounds of aircraft fuel. Today, the shop is open for six hours for the fighter aircraft that participate in exercise Loyal Arrow.

Rescued from Enemy Territory

An injured pilot is in the area controlled by the enemy. He needs help to escape, and the Swedish rescue group is tasked with getting him out. This is the scenario for one of the missions during exercise Loyal Arrow.

The Gripen Flies Every Day

It has been possible for the Swedish pilots to fly every day during exercise Loyal Arrow.
”We have carried out all our planned flights, the other nations have had to cancel a few times because of low cloud base,” says the Carl-Johan Edström, pilot and CO of the second Squadron of the F 21 Wing.