Air Defender 2023

By Richard Bryant

My Air Defender 2023 Experience – 19th to 23rd June, 2023

With the announcement the ANG were sending A10’s for Air Defender I decided I should explore going to Germany.

This would be my first military exercise since 2017. And my first time in Germany on holiday. We agreed to five days to include a parkrun in Hamburg before flying home. So we were all booked for the second week of the exercise within an hour of discussing travelling. 

The first week saw six A-10s from the Maryland ANG operate from Ämari (Estonia). Fortunately in the second week these six aircraft relocated and operated from Schleswig. 

This is my diary of a marvellous week.

Monday 19th June – travel to Schleswig via Hohn

4am alarm call. 5am cab to the airport for a 7am flight to Hamburg. Gatwick is busy. Steve was right…the pandemic is behind us! I am happy I booked Fast Track security. Then we strike gold with a seat in Starbucks.

Our flight is with EasyJet. I booked Speedy Boarding to allow me to take my camera bag on the aircraft without any hassle. For me this took the stress out of boarding.

The flight was on time and relax…we were on our way.

Arriving in Hamburg we picked up our car from OK Mobility. This car hire firm were, in my opinion, very efficient. Car collected and an English speaking sat nav already set-up to help make navigation easy. I booked an automatic for ease of driving.

We are heading to Schleswig for our accommodation but not before a stop enroute to see Hohn airfield. The relentless pursuit is on.

We arrived in Hohn without realising we had passed an airfield with the trees concealing the airfield. Hohn is a pleasant small town. In the centre we found a good Edeka supermarket with a nice café and the bonus of a toilet! We sat down to enjoy the peace of Hohn only for a pair of Eagles to blast into the circuit above our heads. Coffee, pastries consumed we went looking for the airfield!

We found the airfield using information shared on Scramble’s forum. There was parking in the woods down Loher Weg. Normally I can see you can easily park close to the fence but then very little happens at this airfield now. However, we had arrived with the largest NATO air exercise taking place. And there was plenty of interest with the visiting squadrons. We parked in the treeline and had a short 400m walk to the fence. 

I must say I was like a Spaniel catching the scent of a Squirrel. I heard the sound of jet engines and my stately walk turned into a dash to the fence…does anyone else do this?

Arriving at the fence line I found plenty of enthusiasts along with several Police officers keeping an eye on us all. First impressions…the fence runs parallel to the runway and is close at about 100m distance. There is plenty of space along the fence line and easy to see over. A small step will just make viewing even easier.

Opposite me are the US Navy Carrier Air Wing 8 Growler and Hornets. And they are gearing up to depart, engines running and their ground crew busying themselves with final checks on the aircraft. Looking further along the airfield there is a row of F15C’s with the Finish F18C’s in the distance. A very nice line up.

Before the US Navy taxi a pair of USAF ANG F15C’s from the 131st Fighter Squadron Death Vipers (what a great name) return and perform a couple of low approaches. They are low too. And loud. What a way to kick this week off.

Not long after the US Navy Hornets and Growlers taxi and depart. Both EA-18G from VAQ142 depart along with four Super Hornets. I can tick off the US Navy.

There is no further sign of flying for the moment. Given we need to pick up our apartment key we decide to head off on our 30 min drive to Schleswig. We had booked an apartment in the tallest building in Northern Germany.

On the way we pass the main entrance for Jagel. I immediately see where we can park for the 23 end just from the number of cars spread across a farmers field. Parking was going to be fine.

We arrive at our apartment. We are floor 23! I hope there is a lift. I expect terrific views for miles and miles. I was not disappointed. A quick orientation and I see we look out towards the airfields at Jagel and Hohn. Result! Just then I can head the roar of engines. It’s only a German Tornado. They might be several miles away but I can see the German Air Force Tornado’s and US ANG F16’s depart Jagel with their afterburners glowing.

For logistics…we found several supermarkets nearby to procure supplies, including some rather nice Flensburger Pilsener. Day one had been a great day…Tomorrow we will visit Jagel.

Tuesday 20th June – Jagel – weather is overcast turning sunny – 05 departures

This is my target airfield to see the A10’s and Tonkas. We will spend three full days here. 

The USAF ANG A10’s from 104th FS Fightin’ O’s and 107th FS Red Devils. They have six aircraft from each squadron on the airfield. In addition there were sixteen F16’s from the 120th FS Cougars and 175th FS Lobos. The Turkish Air Force sent three F16’s from 151 Filo and in the hardened shelters contain five Hungarian Gripens from their Tactical Aviation Squadron. Plus the home team of Taktisches Luftwaffengenschwader 51 (Tactical Air Forec Wing 51) “Immelmann” had allocated eight Panavia Tornado to this exercise.

The weather started foggy. I mean foggy. At 6:30am I could not see the ground from our 23rd floor apartment. Thankfully this fog lifted by the time we arrived at the airbase around 9:15am. We parked in the field at the 23 end to capture departures as they climbed away. The sun did show its face during the afternoon.

It turned out Jagel was hosting the German Defence Minister on the Tuesday. This meant we had a few VIP flights operating too. There were already a pair of Airbus A400m’s visible at the end of the airfield when we arrived. In addition a pair of CH-53’s (84+97 and 84+71) arrived from HSG64 (Helicopter Squadron 64) carrying a bus load of Top Brass. In my opinion these are chunky no nonsense helicopters which look the part. They both parked and refuelled within a quarter of a mile of the fence to my delight. There was also a Eurocopter AS532 Cougar which arrived from the Executive Transport Wing, presumably with the German Defence Minister.

Before flying started I nipped over to take a quick look at the gate guardians, which included a Starfighter and Tornado.

Not long before 10am I heard aircraft starting up. The A10’s are devilishly quiet though. They taxied around 10am. First up was the mighty Hawg. The aircraft I most wanted to see. There were two flights, four from the 104th Fighter Squadron and a pair from the 107th Fighter Squadron. I had forgotten how they sound. It is a rather sedate sound compared to the ear-splitting roar of the afterburning General Electric F110-GE-100 in the Vipers or RB199 Turbo Union engines found in the Mighty Fin. Nonetheless a great sound.

Departures continued through the day with the final flights returning around 7:30pm. There were in the end fourteen A10 movements, eight Panavia Tornado sorties and seventeen F16’s flying. The home-based Tornado flew an impressive eight different airframes on these sorties.

For the final flights of the day, we headed up to the 05 end to see what views this offered. This was another good spot with a view over towards the visiting aircraft parking and HAS where the Gripens were tucked away. Here the runway was close. I would estimate 30m’s away…so very close. We returned here on Wednesday and Thursday for some different photos.

It had been a terrific day. The access and seeing both aircraft types and squadrons I had on my bucket list. Plus the sun shone (in the end) and it was shorts weather.

We left around 6pm and headed back to the apartment to find a restaurant for dinner and a beer.

Wednesday 21st June – Jagel – sunny and breezy – 23 departures

It was warmer and sunnier than Tuesday but with a stiffening breeze around lunchtime.

The flying followed a similar pattern to Tuesday. With the change in runway use providing some variety for photos.

The morning was spent watching taxi, take-off and recoveries from the 23 end. Twenty two aircraft in total took off including four Hungarian Gripens.

Then we relocated in the afternoon to the 05 end to catch the departures. The A10’s were the stars as they kept low on take-off and pull up as they cross the threshold about where I was standing. In total eight A10’s took-off over the course of the afternoon. The quiet sound of the A10 nearly caught me out at one point. I was reading an article and at the very last moment noticed one rotating a mile down the runway.

There were eight Panavia Tornado’s too. Just awesome to see these. My aviation excitement level definitely peaked above 10 when I saw the Mighty Fin taxing in the distance. Along with the A10 and Tonka were several F16’s. One of made a performance take-off. This was both ear-splitting and grin inducing at the same time. Magnificent.

After watching the last of the evening departures we headed back into Schleswig and dinner at a nice German restaurant called “Patio”, where they served a marvellous steak. Another day of aviation was in the bag.

Thursday 22nd June – Jagel – sunny and hot – 23 departures AM swapping to 05 departures PM

This was the last day of the exercise. At Hohn the US Navy Hornets and Growlers left for their Carrier and the Finnish F18’s went north to their base.

At Jagel the flying followed a similar pattern to the previous two days. With the change in runway mid-afternoon offering even more variety for photos. It was only the evening flying which had fewer aircraft take part.

We headed to the 05 end for morning departures. I had seen the Air Defender special marked A400M arrive from our accommodation. This A400M was parked at the end of the airfield near us. Soon to have a second A400M arrive. Both would depart during the day.

Highlights…the Hungarian Gripens took the prize for the lowest departures keeping their afterburners lit. While the 120th FS Cougars launched both their special tail F16’s too.

When we relocated to the 23 end for recoveries the Turkish F16’s took the prize for lowest approach, with one or two enthusiasts visibly ducking!

In the afternoon it was back to the 05 end to catch the departures and by chance a runway change meant the last wave would line up in front of us.

It was time for home team to start. We had the A400M Air Defender liveried aircraft taxi up to and line up right in front of us. Then four Tornado’s taxied out and lined up in front of us. My chest exploded, ears burst, and eyes popped as the Tornado with it’s RB199 Turbo Union engines on full power held on the brakes. There was one big grin on my face!

We watched a few of the evening sortie return before calling time on Jagel and heading to a nearby Italian restaurant. It had been three wonderful days at a fence watching military aircraft do their day job.

Friday 23rd June – Hohn – warm and sunny…again 😊

Over breakfast we decided some local sightseeing outside Hohn airbase was preferable to walking around German village streets. So off we set to Hohn and first stop the supermarket for supplies.

Hohn offered sixteen F15’s on the flightline being readied to fly home at the weekend along with plenty of transport action all day.

On the flightline with the F15C’s from US ANG 131st FS and 122nd FS were two Turkish Air Force C130 Hercules. Soon to be joined by a Luftwaffe and Turkish A400M.

The Luftwaffe and Turkish A400M’s departed in the morning followed by the Turkish C130’s. This kicked off a steady stream of US ANG C130’s flying from Wunstorf to Hohn and back. It was a constant stream of Fat Alberts which I tracked on ADSB. They were all highlights coming from squadrons I had not seen before. The star approach was from a Lockheed C-130H Hercules – USAF AATC (ANG / AFRC Test Center), flying a low cross field approach and banking hard to join the downwind leg to set up to land. The aircraft must have been around 300 feet as it flew over my head. No warning. Another highlight. Pure aviation joy.

We left Hohn and travelled back to Schleswig to pack. There was one further aviation highlight. While sitting on our balcony a USAF C17 flew past to arrive at Jagel.

We travelled home on Saturday. First stop a parkrun in Hamburg. Then to the airport and our EasyJet flight to take us home.

This trip was full of new experiences, exceeding all my expectations. Germany had delivered a great week of aviation, food, beer, weather, chocolate, and pastries. Wunderbar.

Auf Wiedersehen Schleswig.