Saudis at Souda
Exercise Falcon Eye 3
After a few months of preparations, joint training exercise Falcon Eye 3 kicked-off in Greece in the second week of November 2022. For the third in a series of promising bilateral exercises with the Hellenic Air Force (HAF), the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF deployed several F-15C/D Eagles from Taïf/King Fahd Air Base to Souda, a large air base on the west side of Crete, Greece’s largest island in the Mediterranean.
Support flights in the week prior to the exercise were flown by various RSAF transports, hauling maintenance equipment, and personnel.
Once the Saudi contingent settled at Souda Air Base, the exercise started with ground studies to unify concept among aircrews from both air forces, followed by joint flights in the eastern Mediterranean skies. Under the leadership of Colonel Al-Enezi, the Saudi contingent deployed with all its air, technical and support crews for a few weeks.
During the exercise, different types of missions in various exercise areas in Greek and international airspace, against various types of aircraft were flown. To achieve this, HAF F-4E Phantom and Mirage 2000 fighters were flown from different air bases in a variety of roles, as friendly as well as opposing forces at times, enhancing the training value of the exercise.
Scramble Magazine will publish an article on the Falcon Eye 3 exercise. Keep a close watch on the articles section, as it will be online from Sunday 27 November 2022. You have to be a subscriber to get access to the articles and the updates sections.
Photo via Saudi MoD