Allied Air Forces along with regional partners come together at Andravida Air Base as Greece host the international live-fly Exercise INIOCHOS 24, from April 8 to 18, 24. The Hellenic Air Force (HAF) Fighter Weapons School supervise all air operations during INIOCHOS 2024 including Air Power Contribution to Counter-Land and Maritime Operations and Combat Search and Rescue. Participating Nations work together to plan, execute, and debrief missions; additionally the F-16 Tactical Simulators of the newly established HAF’s Synthetic Training Squadron will be used for a number of missions, expanding INIOCHOS to the virtual world.

“Exercise INIOCHOS 24 provides a unique opportunity for participants to fly complex missions, specifically designed to enhance interoperability and increase combat readiness. The exercise scenarios range the full spectrum of air operations and the use of the F-16 Tactical Simulators further enhance the training objectives,” said Lieutenant General Dimosthenis Grigoriadis, Chief of the Hellenic Air Force General Staff.

The annual live-fly training exercise started as a national air exercise at the tactical level in the late 1980s; this year (NATO’s 75th Anniversary year), Greece will see the largest number of fighter aircraft and helicopters participating in the exercise’s history.INIOCHOS offers realistic combined air operations where crews operate in a complex and congested air environment. These challenging scenarios with multiple modern threats and real-time live injects are specially designed to enhance interoperability and increase combat readiness, building a stronger and more agile Alliance.

Later this year, the HAF will host the NATO’s first Ramstein Flag exercise at the same Andravida Air Base. Organised by Allied Air Command, this multi-domain exercise will be the first iteration, exercising high-end sophisticated defence skills including; Counter Anti-Access/Area Denial (C-A2AD), Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) and 4th and 5th generation aircraft integration. The exercise will also combine use of the synthetic training environment to achieve its objectives.