A new NATO exercise on the calendar is Ramstein Flag. Held in October 2024 at Andravida Air Base in the Peloponnese region of Greece, RAMSTEIN FLAG is an Allied Air Command sponsored tactical level LIVEX aiming to provide participating nations, as the Primary Training Audience, high-end training opportunities that include realistic problem sets in a complex operational environment.
The organisers held two Spotters Days on 1st and 8th October, of which I attended the latter – I travelled with 4Aviation on an 4-day trip, designed to visit the low-flying areas nearby, as well as the Spotters Day.
Access to the base started at 9:00 am, with the exercise for that day targetted to be beginning at around 1:30pm. Just before we were admitted 2 Hellenic Air Force McDonnell-Douglas F-4E Phantoms took to the air and subsequently returned just as the first of the photographers made it to the spotters enclosure – sadly I was not one of the early birds.
Fortunately, just a little later, another single F-4E took to the skies and this returned, carry a nice low approach overshoot and break, before landing and taxying back past the spotters area. As it turned out, the pilot Stefanos (callsign Napalm) was a member of the local model building society, a group of which were gathered next to me, so he stopped opposite us and gave everyone a special wave.
The exercise itself consisted of a number of aircraft operating from Andravida, together with others from other bases – the Romanians on our day operated from their home base.
NATO members Canada France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain,
Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States took part. Aircraft participating in RAFL24 included;
- USAF F-35A
- Hellenic AF Mirage
- Hellenic AF Rafale
- Hellenic AF F-16
- Aeronautica Militare Italiana Eurofighter
- Ejército del Aire Eurofighter
- Armée de l’air Rafale
- Magyar Légierő (Hungary) JAS-39 Gripen
- Svenska flygvapnet (Sweden) JAS-39 Gripen
- Siły Powietrzne (Poland) F-16
- NATO MQ-9
- NATO E3 Sentry
- Royal Air Force Rivet Joint,
- Royal Canadian Air Force CC-150 Polaris
Many of the aircraft based at Andravida taxied past the spotters’ area, either before departure or after landing, with the notable exceptions being the USAF F-35A’s for 48th TFW at RAF Lakenheath and the AMI Eurofighters from
One aspect of the spotters’ area at Andravida was that it was slightly below the runway level, which, coupled with the length of the grass, meant that in some cases, the wheels of the aircraft disappeared—unfortunately, I had not taken any steps with me, but a couple of the aircraft modellers I mentioned earlier were kind enough to let me use theirs occasionally.
So, on with the images – I’ve tried to capture as many operators and types as possible. I think the images have come out quite well – the strong greens from the foliage around the airfield make a nice contrast, together with the sun being positioned behind me.
The standout for me was the flypast of the RCAF CC-150 Polaris Tanker – one of only two configured for air-2-air refuelling – the pilot clearly knew what would make a good image, performing a nicely banked pass along the airfield.
Finally, as I was walking out of the base, I stopped by ‘history row’ to capture some of the different types operated that previously operated from Andravida AB.
