Florennes Defence Days
On 5 and 6 July the annual Belgian Defence Days took place at airbase Florennes with as host the 2nd tactical wing. I visited Florennes at Saturday, and here is my review:
This event was, like every edition of the Defence Days, a nice opportunity to learn something about the Belgian Defence. I was especially interested in the airshow and the static display of the military airplanes (probably just like you). Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t good and it rained sometimes.
Let's start with a large and nice visitor: the Boeing E-3 ‘Sentry’ AWACS (Airborne Warning And Control System) from the NATO. The E-3 is actually a modified B707: it has a big radar, in the form of a mushroom, on top of its fuselage.
Not far away from the E-3, an Antonov An-26 from the Polish Air Force was parked. The transparent ‘bulge’ on the left side of the airplane gives the observer or an other crew member an excellent view.
The only Belgian display was that from Michael ‘Mickey’ Artiges with an F-16. His display was breathtaking, noisy and very smoothly performed!
After the display, the F-16 flew in formation with a P-51D Mustang. With the Mustang at top speed, the F-16 followed easily!
The highlight of the day was the display of the Turkish Stars with 8 Northrop F-5s. Photos tell more than thousand words… (see my photo album)
The Netherlands was represented by the F-16 solo display team. The beautiful painted F-16 flew a very impressive display. The special colour scheme represents a bullet flying through the air with supersonic shockwaves behind it.
Between al this hypermodern stuff were nevertheless historical fighters present! Some examples: a Douglas A-1 Skyraider, a De Havilland DH-115 Vampire, a T6 Harvard, a P40 Curtiss and the earlier mentioned P-51D Mustang.
Joint Demos
To show the good cooperation between the different components of the Defence, joint demos were performed. An overview of the demos:
Hostage Rescue
In conflicts you must reckon with enemies taking civilians or soldiers as hostages. A possible reaction is to free the hostages with a military action. This action is well prepared and is carried out fast. At the airshow you could see an action where ground troops and helicopters work together to free the hostages. The soldiers use the ‘fast roping’ method (see picture) to disembark the helicopter, if it can’t land because of difficult terrain.
Rapid Fire
The combination of speed, movability and fire power is decisive in military operations. You can form this combination by transporting artillery quick to a position from where it can take a target under fire from a great distance. This is done by helicopters. During this demonstration you could see how a helicopter brings a 105mm canon (Giatt) into position. That canon takes a target under fire. An observer, who has a clear view on the target, has a radio connection with the canon and gives instructions.
Tactical Air landing Operation
With this operation the soldiers try to capture an important airport, bridge, etc. or to free unarmed civilians (= NEO or non-combattant evacuation). This kind of operations require an intensive preparation and a quick execution. During this demo at the airshow you could see the arrival of scouts by parachute and a storm landing with C-130s, supported by A-109 Agusta helicopters and ground attacks by F-16s. This spectacle took place in pouring rain...
This demo was terminated by a formation flight of two C-130s and two F-16s.
The last display from the airshow was the Breitling Jet Team, it flew an excellent display, despite the bad weather. The bad weather caused that the Patrouille de France didn’t fly. Very unfortunate to miss their display, but that is something for the next edition of the Defence Days!
For more pictures, visit my photo album!
Official site of the Defence Days.
