Ramstein Flag 24
Allied fighter jets participating in NATO exercise Ramstein Flag 24 fly in formation over the west coast of Greece, Oct. 4, 2024. Over 130 fighter and enabler aircraft from Greece, Canada, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States are training side by side to improve tactics and foster more robust integration, demonstrating NATO’s resolve, commitment and ability to deter potential adversaries and defend the Alliance.
10.04.2024
Video by Tech. Sgt. Emili Koonce
48th Fighter Wing
A 12 October 2024 story published by Allied Air Command highlighted the exercise:
On October 11, senior military officers from NATO members’ air forces as well as Greek and Allied Air Command leaders convened at Andravida Air Base for an in-depth update of the first Ramstein Flag exercise. The Exercise Director, Brigadier General Matthaios Kanoupakis, Hellenic Air Force, and his team of Greek and NATO specialists presented the various elements of the exercise to the visitors showcasing the cutting-edge training provided to the participants from twelve NATO Air Forces.
“Over the last two weeks, we’ve had over 100 aircraft flying from eleven different locations; over 1100 sorties that have been flown! It has been a tremendous effort to make this happen,” said General James Hecker, Commander of Allied Air Command, commending all those involved in planning, organising and executing exercise Ramstein Flag 24. “And as I got a chance to talk to the exercise director and others, it couldn’t have gone better. Now I can truly say that we’re ready to go, and being ready to go means hopefully we deter any of our adversaries or enemies from trying to strike against NATO because that’s why we do these things,” he added.
“This exercise has tested our limits, pushed our capabilities, and reinforced our interoperability. We have embraced the opportunity to train as we fight, to collaborate and to refine our skills in the face of complex and evolving challenges,” said Lieutenant General Dimosthenis Grigoriadis Chief of the Hellenic Air Force General Staff. “Ramstein Flag is a crucial investment in NATO’s future readiness. The Alliance’s ability to adapt, innovate and remain united is more important than ever. Ramstein Flag 2024 has shown that we are ready to face these challenges, prepared to operate in contested and complex environments and capable of maintaining the peace and security of the Euro Atlantic region,” he added.
Ramstein Flag is the first time that NATO’s Air Forces have come together to take part in a new sophisticated series of air exercise to face most challenging threats and fly in multi-domain operations and scenarios designed to provide realistic combat settings. The next Ramstein Flag exercise is scheduled to take place in the Netherlands in the spring of 2025 in a continuation of exposing NATO Air Forces to a high-end training environment helping to ensure they have the capabilities required to defend the Alliance and its member Nations.