This year, the NATO Tiger Meet was hosted by the French unit Escadron de Chasse 3/30 “Lorraine” from 13 to 24 May at the French airbase Mont de Marsan in the south west of France.Thisexercise is not merely about the team spirit and the traditions which are being propagated but it is also imparts quality skills in defence personnel required to tackle modern encounters during various conflicts. Mont de Marsan is the most important knowledge centre for the DassaultRafale deployment in France. Operational experiments with this type and the Dassault Mirage 2000D are performed daily at the airbase. There are also few operational units on Mont de Marsan that are all part of Escadron de Chasse 30.
With the aim of sharing experiences, increasing interoperability, exemplary values and team spirit as a guiding principle, the NATO Tiger Meet has developed into an important exercise within NATO in more than 50 years. The tradition teaches that the participating squadrons, whether they are flying with airplanes or helicopters, are always present in the well-known tiger colours. The squadron emblem of all these participants is the tiger. The NATO Tiger Association is a collection of military units from NATO member states. Since 1961, the organisation has been conducting the NATO Tiger Meet every year. This meeting gives the units and their crew an opportunity to gather and participate in various exercises. The story of the Tiger Meet began on 19 July 1961, when three Tiger squadrons met at the British airbase RAF Wood bridge which was in use at that time by the US Air Force. The units that participated in the meeting from the first hour were the Royal Air Force 74 Squadron with the Lightning, EC 1/12 “Cambresis” with the Super Mystère B2 and the 79th Tactical Fighter Squadron with the F-100 Super Sabre. During the Cold War in a context of international tensions, the French Minister of Defence Pierre Messmer held a meeting to promote solidarity between the NATO units and to improve the quality of operational deployment.
The exercise commander of the NATO Tiger Meet 2019 was Lieutenant Colonel Hugues Fouquet. This 55th edition of the exercise was conducted at the French airbase BA118 Mont de Marsan andfor the French Air Force, the famous SPA-162 "Tigre", the 3rd flight of the Escadron de Chasse 3/30 "Lorraine", was the reason for designating this unit as a Tiger Unit within the NATO Tiger Association. By integrating SPA-162 in "Lorraine" in 2016, this unit became a member of the Tiger community.
Every year, the NATO Tiger Meet has a specific theme according to which the coloured tails of the planes are matched. For this year, it was the 75th anniversary of the landing in Normandy during D-Day. To pay tribute to the 75th anniversary of landing on Normandy, the guest squadron EC 3/30 “Lorraine” had adapted a Rafale to the theme of the “Dark Smoking Tiger”. The Dark Smoking Tiger on the Rafale symbolises the operations which unit "Lorraine" performed during this historic day at the Normandy coast on June 6, 1944. In the morning, twelve Douglas Bostons belonging to the 342 Squadron of the French Free Air Force (Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres)which is currently referred to as EC 3/30 “Lorraine” flew to Normandy for their historical mission. The Bostons flew at low altitudes over the beaches of Normandy to construct a long and dense smokescreen. This smokescreen was a great success, because it protected the landing units against German bombings on the beaches. The French flew more than 25 km along the Cotentin coast to the mouth of the Vire River. The Dark Smoking Tiger emerged from the darkness of the night and gusted the wind of freedom over France. It symbolised the union of the Tiger spirit and the mythical legacy of the Free French Forces who entered France as the first liberation troops. Because of this message and symbolism, it is therefore not surprising that the colour scheme of the guest unit was chosen as the best “paint job” during this NATO Tiger Meet.
Traditionally, trophies are awarded every year to the participating units in different categories. The main prize that can be won is the Silver Tiger, which was taken home this year by the Portuguese from the 301 Esquadron. The trophy for the best performing unit during the exercises and the trophy for the best painted aircraft were both won by EC 3/30 “Lorraine”. This year, the Tiger Games were won by ECE 1/30 "Côte d'Argent". The most beautiful uniform was worn by the crew members of the Austrian 1 JTS. Finally, the prize for the best skid was won by the French helicopter unit EHRA 3 of the 3 RHC. This exercise provides a golden opportunity to pilots to deepen their knowledge about different aircraft types. That is why each unit usually brings few two-seater aircraft, which means that foreign pilots can fly in each other's aircraft during the missions.
One of the most important objectives of the NATO Tiger Meet is the exchange or transfer of knowledge between the different participating countries. Different scenarios are created during the preparations which are suitable for both young and experienced pilots. Depending on the scenario, participants take 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 crunch area. The current training location of the NTM in France provided the French Air Force an opportunity to test its new equipment and aircraft.
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 andthis flight is called as COMAO wave (Composite Air Operations). During this flight, several sub missions are flown with 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 for such type of missions could be Operation Desert Storm in Iraq in 1991 and Operation Allied Force in Kosovo in 1999. During the NTM 2019, there was a training given on the planning of such types of missions and especially on leading these missions. The second flight of the day was consisted of the basic and advanced flights. During this shadow wave, the participants of the Tiger Meet scenarios flew missions that match their own level or the level of their own team. The main objective was to fly missions with or against aircraft of other types. These missions often consisted of In Visual Range battles against other types of combat aircraft than their own types.
Every year, many participants participate in the NATO Tiger Meet but this year’s edition witnessed the participation of the southwest European countries for the first time. Apart from these new members, the exercise also saw participation from 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 and 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 from the NATO and the French Air Force. In addition to the exercise with combat aircraft, units with helicopters were 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.
Text: Alex van Noye and Joris van Boven
Photos: Alex van Noye