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TLP 2008.5 from 06/10 to 31/10/2008

After nearly two decades in October of 2008 was held one of the latest editions of the TLP at the Florennes air base (Belgium), in the Walloon province of Namur, just before that this important NATO exercises move  to Albacete, in Spain, in November 2009.
The Tactical Leadership Program (TLP) was born in 1979 at the Jever (Germany) airbase. Initially crews most involved were those deployed in Central Europe, only with the passing of the years the invitations were extended to the other European crews, especially to the south. Upon expiration of the 10th year of the contract, the TLP moved to Belgium in order to achieve a more central position, thus encouraging the participation of various countries invited. Initially, the contract stipulated that the NATO base houses the exercise until 1999. At the end of this period thanks to the success and resources available the previous contract was extended for 10 more years. However, in recent years the number of missions aborted due to bad weather conditions, common in Belgium, has significantly increased as well as is decreased the air space available because of the greater demands of civil aviation and also they can’t perform night missions, a key feature of modern military aviation. For these reasons, it was decided that since the end of 2009, the TLP will move to the sunny Spanish base in Albacete.
The purpose of this exercise is to train once a fortnight crews in planning large scale missions that include different types of aircraft each with different characteristics and performance. It also wants to be a way to expand and improve the tactical skills of the pilots participating in addition to improving the integration between the crews of the NATO air forces. Typically 15 missions are carried out with also 5 days of theoretical training during all the 20 days of the maneuver. The missions provide an increasing difficulty, and include Slow Mover Interception, ASuW, air reconnaissance, refueling and CSAR. Although several targets are presented there will be no actual release, only the use of the various electronic countermeasures that each aircraft possesses it’s admitted.
AV-8B+ 09.923
In this particular session, the participating countries during all or part of the exercise included:
  • France (Mirage F1CR from nearby Reims-Champagne-01,033 ER "Belford"),
  • Italy (AMX ACOL by Istrana, 51st Wing 132nd Group, F-2000 from Grosseto, 9th Group 4th Wing),
  • USA (F-16CM from Aviano (I), 31st FW, 510th FS),
  • Spain (EF-18A + from Torrejon Ala 12, F/A-18 from Gando Ala 46, Esc.462, Mirage F1 from Albacete Ala 14, AV8B + from Rota, 9th Esc),
  • Greece (F-16C from Nea Anghialos, 111PM 330Mira),
  • Great Britain (Marham Tornado GR4 from 13rd Sqn, Leuchars Tornado F3 from 43th and 111st Sqn).
The Italian’s HH-3F from the SAR center of Brindisi and Rimini was expected to attend. Unfortunately, during the transfer flight from Dijon to Florennes the airplane, from SAR center of Brindisi, due to a serious breakdown crashed, causing the death of 8 Italian soldiers, all my condolences runs to the families.

The date chosen to visit Belgium was Tuesday, October 28th, at that date it was planned a CSAR mission. This is because these kind of missions are those with more aircraft involved. In fact, the total number of aircraft in flight was gone over the 20 machines. Unfortunately, since it was October the weather didn’t cooperate but failed to ruin the beautiful day. The first aircrafts to take off at 12.30 were 2 Greek F-16C, while the last to land were other 2 different F-16C Greek to 14.30. In the footer there is a tab of the day, between 12.00 and 16.00.

Text and Photo by Marco Sommacal

F-16AM FA-108 BAF F-16AM FA-108 BAF F-16AM FA-108 BAF F-16AM FA-108 BAF F-16AM FA-131 BAF
F-16AM FA-131 BAF F-16AM FA-131 BAF F-16AM FA-131 BAF F-16AM FA-131 BAF F-16AM FA-131 BAF
F-16AM FA-108 BAF F-16AM FA-108 BAF F-16AM FA-108 BAF F-16AM FA-108 BAF F-16AM FA-108 BAF
F-16AM FA-108 BAF F-16C-30 119 HAF F-16C-30 119 HAF F-16C-30 119 HAF F-16AM FA-131 BAF
F-16AM FA-131 BAF F-16AM FA-108 BAF F-16AM FA-108 BAF F-16AM FA-131 BAF F-16AM FA-131 BAF
F-16AM FA-131 BAF F-16C-30 143 HAF F-16C-30 143 HAF F-16C-30 143 HAF Tornado F3 ZE838 RAF
Tornado F3 ZE838 RAF Tornado F3 ZE838 RAF Tornado F3 ZE838 RAF Tornado F3 ZE961 RAF Tornado F3 ZE961 RAF
Tornado F3 ZE961 RAF Tornado F3 ZE961 RAF Tornado F3 ZE961 RAF Tornado F3 ZE961 RAF Tornado F3 ZE961 & ZE838 RAF
Tornado F3 ZE961 & ZE838 RAF F-2000A 4-2 AMI F-2000A 4-2 AMI F-2000A 4-2 AMI F-2000A 4-2 AMI
F-2000A 4-2 AMI F-2000A 4-2 AMI F-2000A 4-2 AMI F-2000A 4-2 AMI F-2000A 4-21 AMI
F-2000A 4-21 AMI F-2000A 4-21 AMI F-2000A 4-21 AMI F-2000A 4-21 AMI Tornado F3 ZE968 RAF
Tornado F3 ZE968 RAF F-2000A 4-2 & 4-21 AMI F-2000A 4-2 & 4-21 AMI F-2000A AMI 4-2 & 4-21 & Tornado F3 ZE968 RAF F-2000A 4-21 AMI
F-2000A 4-21 AMI F-2000A 4-2 AMI AMX-ACOL 51-60 AMI AMX-ACOL 51-60 AMI AMX-ACOL 51-60 AMI
AMX-ACOL 51-60 AMI AMX-ACOL 51-60 AMI AMX-ACOL 51-65 AMI AMX-ACOL 51-65 AMI AMX-ACOL 51-65 AMI
AMX-ACOL AMI 51-60 & 51-65 EF-18+ 12-04 EdA EF-18+ 12-04 EdA EF-18+ 12-04 EdA EF-18+ 12-26 EdA
EF-18+ 12-26 EdA EF-18+ 12-26 EdA EF-18+ 12-26 EdA EF-18+ 12-26 EdA AV-8B+ 01-919 AE
AV-8B+ 01-919 AE AV-8B+ 01-923 AE AV-8B+ 01-919 AE AV-8B+ 01-919 AE AV-8B+ 01-919 AE
AV-8B+ 01-919 AE AV-8B+ 01-919 AE AV-8B+ 01-919 AE AV-8B+ 01-919 AE AV-8B+ 01-923 AE
AV-8B+ 01-923 AE AV-8B+ 01-923 AE AV-8B+ 01-923 AE AV-8B+ 01-923 AE AV-8B+ 09-019&09-023 AE
AV-8B+ 01-923 AE AV-8B+ 01-923 AE Tornado GR4 115 RAF Tornado GR4 115 RAF Tornado GR4 115 RAF
Tornado GR4 115 RAF Tornado GR4 115 RAF Tornado GR4 115 RAF Tornado GR4 115 RAF F-16C-30 127 HAF
F-16C-30 127 HAF F-16C-30 127 HAF F-16C-30 127 HAF F-16C-30 127 HAF F-16C-30 127 HAF
F-16C-30 127 HAF F-16C-30 127 HAF F-16C-30 129 HAF F-16C-30 129 HAF Tornado GR4 115 RAF
F-16C-30 129 HAF F-16C-30 129 HAF F-16C-30 129 HAF F-16C-30 129 HAF F-16C-30 129 HAF
F-16C-30 129 & 127 HAF F-16C-30 129 & 127 HAF MirageF1CM 14-36 EdA MirageF1CM 14-36 EdA MirageF1CM 14-36 EdA
MirageF1CM 14-36 EdA MirageF1CM 14-36 EdA MirageF1CM 14-36 EdA MirageF1CM 14-40 EdA MirageF1CM 14-40 EdA
MirageF1CM 14-40 EdA MirageF1CM 14-40 EdA MirageF1CM 14-40 EdA Mirage F1CM 14-36 & 14-40 EdA MirageF1CM 14-36 EdA
MirageF1CM 14-36 EdA MirageF1CM 14-36 EdA MirageF1CR 33-CF AdA MirageF1CR 33-CF AdA MirageF1CR 33-CF AdA
MirageF1CR 33-CF AdA MirageF1CR 33-CR AdA MirageF1CR 33-CR AdA MirageF1CR 33-CR AdA MirageF1CR 33-CR AdA
MirageF1CR 33-CR AdA MirageF1CR 33-CR AdA F-16CM 89-2009 USAF F-16CM 89-2009 USAF F-16CM 89-2009 USAF
F-16CM 89-2009 USAF F-16CM 89-2009 USAF F-18A 46-12 EdA F-18A 46-12 EdA F-16CM 89-2009 USAF
F-16AM FA-68 BAF F-16AM FA-68 BAF F-16AM FA-68 BAF F-16AM FA-68 BAF F-16AM FA-91 BAF
F-16AM FA-91 BAF F-16AM FA-121 BAF F-16AM FA-121 BAF F-16AM FA-121 BAF F-16AM FA-121 BAF
F-16AM FA-121 BAF BAF F-16AM FA-121 BAF F-16AM FA-109 BAF F-16AM FA-109 BAF
F-16AM FA-109 BAF F-16AM FA-109 BAF F-16AM FA-109 BAF AV-8B+ 01-919 AE AV-8B+ 01-919 AE
AV-8B+ 01-919 AE AV-8B+ 01-919 AE AV-8B+ 01-919 AE AV-8B+ 01-923 AE AV-8B+ 01-923 AE
AV-8B+ 01-923 AE AV-8B+ 01-923 AE AV-8B+ 01-923 AE AV-8B+ 01-923 AE AV-8B+ 01-923 AE
AV-8B+ 01-923 AE AV-8B+ 01-923 AE AMX-ACOL 51-60 AMI AMX-ACOL 51-60 AMI AMX-ACOL 51-60 AMI
AMX-ACOL 51-60 AMI AMX-ACOL 51-60 AMI AMX-ACOL 51-65 AMI AMX-ACOL 51-65 AMI AMX-ACOL 51-65 AMI
Tornado F3 ZE968 RAFTornado F3 ZE968 RAF Tornado F3 ZE968 RAF Tornado F3 ZE968 RAF Tornado F3 ZE968 RAF Tornado F3 ZE968 RAF
Tornado F3 ZE968 RAF Tornado F3 ZE968 RAF Tornado F3 ZE968 RAF F-16AM FA-121 BAF F-16AM FA-121 BAF
F-16AM FA-121 BAF F-16AM FA-121 BAF F-16AM FA-121 BAF F-16AM FA-121 BAF F-16AM FA-68 BAF
F-16AM FA-68 BAF F-16AM FA-68 BAF F-16AM FA-68 BAF F-16AM FA-109 BAF F-16AM FA-109 BAF
F-16AM FA-109 BAF F-16AM FA-109 BAF F-16AM FA-109 BAF F-16AM FA-91 BAF F-16AM FA-91 BAF
F-16AM FA-91 BAF F-16AM FA-91 BAF F-16AM FA-91 BAF F-16AM FA-91 BAF MirageF1CR 33-CF AdA
MirageF1CR 33-CF AdA MirageF1CR 33-CR AdA MirageF1CR 33-CR AdA MirageF1CR 33-CR AdA MirageF1CR 33-CR AdA
MirageF1CR 33-CR AdA MirageF1CR 33-CR AdA MirageF1CM 14-36 EdA MirageF1CM 14-36 EdA MirageF1CM 14-36 EdA
MirageF1CM 14-36 EdA MirageF1CM 14-36 EdA MirageF1CM 14-40 EdA MirageF1CM 14-40 EdA MirageF1CM 14-40 EdA
F-18A 46-12 EdA F-18A 46-12 EdA F-18A 46-12 EdA F-18A 46-12 EdA F-18A 46-12 EdA
F-18A 46-12 EdA F-18A 46-12 EdA F-18A 46-12 EdA F-18A 46-12 EdA F-18A 46-12 EdA
EF-18+ 12-04 EdA EF-18+ 12-04 EdA EF-18+ 12-04 EdA EF-18+ 12-04 EdA EF-18+ 12-26 EdA
EF-18+ 12-26 EdA EF-18+ 12-26 EdA EF-18+ 12-26 EdA EF-18+ 12-26 EdA EF-18+ 12-26 EdA
EF-18+ 12-26 EdA EF-18+ 12-26 EdA EF-18+ 12-26 EdA EF-18+ 12-26 EdA EF-18+ 12-26 EdA
EF-18+ 12-26 EdA F-2000A 4-2 AMI F-2000A 4-2 AMI F-2000A 4-2 AMI F-2000A 4-2 AMI
F-2000A 4-2 AMI F-2000A 4-21 AMI F-16C-30 119 HAF F-16C-30 119 HAF F-16C-30 119 HAF
F-16C-30 119 HAF F-16C-30 143 HAF F-16C-30 143 HAF F-16C-30 143 HAF F-16C-30 143 HAF
F-16C-30 143 HAF F-16C-30 143 HAF F-16C-30 143 HAF Tornado F3 ZE961 & ZE838 RAF & F-16CM 89-2009 USAF Tornado F3 ZE961 & ZE838 RAF & F-16CM 89-2009 USAF
Tornado F3 ZE838 RAF Tornado F3 ZE838 RAF F-16CM 89-2009 USAF F-16CM 89-2009 USAF F-16CM 89-2009 USAF
F-16CM 89-2009 USAF Tornado GR4 115 RAF Tornado GR4 115 RAF Tornado GR4 115 RAF Tornado GR4 115 RAF
Tornado F3 ZE838 RAF Tornado F3 ZE838 RAF Tornado F3 ZE838 RAF Tornado F3 ZE838 RAF Tornado F3 ZE838 RAF
Tornado F3 ZE961 RAF Tornado F3 ZE961 RAF Tornado F3 ZE961 RAF Tornado F3 ZE961 RAF Tornado F3 ZE961 RAF
Tornado F3 ZE961 RAF Tornado F3 ZE961 RAF F-16C-30 127 HAF F-16C-30 127 HAF F-16C-30 127 HAF
F-16C-30 127 HAF F-16C-30 127 HAF F-16C-30 127 HAF F-16C-30 127 HAF F-16C-30 127 HAF
F-16C-30 129 HAF Carenne
Aircraft Type Serial Code Group Wing Base Note
F-16AM FA-108 87-0052   2nd Wing Florennes, Belgium No TLP. Live Weapons
F-16AM FA-131 89-0009   2nd Wing Florennes, Belgium No TLP.Live Weap, Demo Special Color
F-16AM FA-68 80-3559   2nd Wing Florennes, Belgium No TLP
F-16AM FA-91 80-3582   2nd Wing Florennes, Belgium No TLP
F-16AM FA-121 88-0046   2nd Wing Florennes, Belgium No TLP
F-16AM FA-109 87-0053   2nd Wing Florennes, Belgium 1° Sqd Special Color, No TLP
AV-8B+ VA.1B-24 01-914 Ecs 9   Rota, Spain Didn't Fly
AV-8B+ VA.1B-29 01-919 Ecs 9   Rota, Spain  
AV-8B+ VA.1B-35 01-923 Ecs 9   Rota, Spain  
Mirage F1CM C.14-63 14-36   ALA 14 Albacete, Spain  
Mirage F1CM C.14-68 14-40   ALA 14 Albacete, Spain  
EF-18A+ C.15-46 12-04   ALA 12 Torrejon, Spain  
EF-18A+ C.15-68 12-26   ALA 12 Torrejon, Spain  
F-18A C.15-84 46-12 Esc 462 ALA 46 Gando, Spain  
F-18A C.15-79 46-07 Esc 462 ALA 46 Gando, Spain Didn't Fly
Mirage F1CR 604 33-CF   ER01.033 Reims-Champagne, France  
Mirage F1CR 649 33-CR   ER01.033 Reims-Champagne, France  
F-16C-30 119 88-0119 341 Mira 111 PM Nea Anghialos, Greece  
F-16C-30 127 88-0127 341 Mira 111 PM Nea Anghialos, Greece  
F-16C-30 129 88-0129 341 Mira 111 PM Nea Anghialos, Greece  
F-16C-30 143 88-0143 341 Mira 111 PM Nea Anghialos, Greece  
F-16CM   89-2009 510th FS 31st FW Aviano, Italy  
F-16CM   88-0510 510th FS 31st FW Aviano, Italy "510th FS", Didn't Fly
Tornado GR4 086 ZD720   13rd Sqn Marham, UK  
Tornado GR4 115 ZD895   13rd Sqn Marham, UK  
Tornado F3   ZE968   111th Sqn Leuchars, UK  
Tornado F3 FO ZE961   ex-25th Sqn Leuchars, UK  
Tornado F3 GH ZE838   43rd Sqn Leuchars, UK  
AMX-ACOL mm7184 51-60 132nd Gruppo 51st Stormo Istrana, Italy  
AMX-ACOL mm7174 51-65 132nd Gruppo 51st Stormo Istrana, Italy  
F-2000A mm7286 4-2 9th Gruppo 4th Stormo Grosseto, Italy  
F-2000A mm7284 4-21 9th Gruppo 4th Stormo Grosseto, Italy  
HH-3F     83rd SAR Center 31st Stormo Rimini, Italy Didn't Fly