A legacy FA-18A Hornet from Ala 46 takes off from Gando
Canary Islands organised the Ocean Sky 2020 an air combat exercise from 19 to 30 October 2020. Geographically separated from the Spanish mainland and located just off the coast of Morocco, the Canary Islands provides a unique airspace for a large-scale exercise. Home of Ala 46, Gando Air Base on the Island of Gran Canaria, hosted the exercise for the second time under its current name. To carry an exercise like Ocean Sky, a series of sanitary measures had to be implemented to mitigate the risk of Covid-19, such as the creation of bubble groups, limitation of capacity, daily temperature controls, as well as the supply of masks and hydroalcoholic gel. In addition, teams of trackers were made available to monitor and control possible cases.
An Ala 11 Eurofighter returns to a full flightline, with all types of jets captured, after a morning mission
Goal
The purpose of Ocean Sky 2020 is to train and evaluate skills of combat and support units, as well as maintaining the high level of preparedness of Command and Control capabilities and also integrating invited foreign units in an air superiority campaign. This allows to increase preparation for air-to-air combat level of the Spanish Air Force and NATO allies. These principles are inherited from the DACT (Dissimilar Air Combat Training) exercises which were used to be held at Gando Air Base till 2017. In the year 2018, DACT exercise was cancelled and the new name Ocean Sky was adopted in 2019. Originally, Ocean Sky was born to test the combat level of the Spanish combat squadrons through their chain of command. Today, it has become a primarily air-to-air exercise, based on three missions modelled on NATO tactics: the protection of the area, the escort of major aircraft and the Entry Force. During this year’s exercise, the Spanish aircraft focused mainly on defensive missions, while the French aircraft on offensive missions.
Back after 8 years of absence, the EAV-8B Harriers from Esquadrilla 009 enabled young pilots to train in a dynamic environment to test their skills
Rafale C 118 30-IW from Mont-de-Marsan was 1 of 13 Rafales that participated in this year’s exercise
1. A first phase of ‘Generation and deployment of forces’ was aimed to carry out all personnel and force preparation tasks, as well as the deployment of participating units
2. Theoretical phase included a series of ‘force integration conferences’ which were intended to impart knowledge about the participating aircraft, Flight Safety, Combat Tactics, etc.
3. A practical phase comprised of missions with DACT and Mixed Fighter Forces Operation (MFFO) in a wide variety of scenarios and with a large number of aircraft, which allowed increasing interoperability between the different participating units, as well as evaluating and improving the tactics, techniques and procedures used in this type of missions.
4. A final phase of ‘withdrawal’.
An overview of all participants participating in this year’s Ocean Sky exercise
Mission scenarios
The participants also operated form Delta 79 operating area which is located 46 miles (74km) from Gando Air Base and is one of the largest air combat training areas in Europe – stretching for 186 miles (300km) by 230 miles (370km) – which allows for unrestricted air combat training without speed or height limitations. Overlooking the exercise and the scenarios is the Combat Air Command (Mando Aéreo de Combate or MACOM). The Combat Air Command is a unit of the Spanish Air Force that oversees the supporting and preparing of air units for combat, as well as constituting the command and control system of the offensive activities of the Air Force. To this end, it has the possibility of operational deployment both in missions with other units of the Spanish Armed Forces and in the international areas. Operationally and organically, it reports directly to the Chief of the Air Staff (Jefe del Estado Mayor del Aire or JEMA). Located inside Torrejón Air Base, all units related to the attack and defence capabilities of the Air Force depend on it.
The Amree de L’Air Rafales had a good opportunity to test and simulate their tactics around with new Meteor missile
To allow full evaluation of the command and control structures, a wide range of scenarios were integrated into the exercise. Each of these scenarios was met with an impressive opposition force drawn from the participants. With a unique airspace, Ocean Sky exercise allows the participants to carry out missions of extreme complexity and to recreate all kinds of scenarios.
The Delta 79 area South of the Canary Islands provides a 110.000 square kilometer airspace with no limitations in height and speed
Text and photos: Erik Bruijns