From 8 to 19 June 2015 at Konya Air Base in Konya (Turkey) took place the annual international Anatolian Eagle 2015-1 exercise.  

The first Anatolian Eagle exercise was held in 2001 after the need for their own training facility arose with modernisation of the Turkish Air Forces fighter fleet. After the conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo, the Turkish Air Force gained experience and reached a performance level such that they could host their own exercises and provide training for other allied air forces. The Anatolian Eagle exercises are held three times a year of which two are classed as national exercises whilst during the third the Turkish Air Force invites Allied Air forces to give them the opportunity to join the exercise at Konya Air Base. Anatolian Eagle can be compared with Red Flag – a simulated wartime environment which increases with difficulty using the normal building block approach, the complexity of each package growing over the two-week training period with ‘package lead’ being rotated through all participating nations and units. This gives the aircrews the best training to prepare them for real world conflict. The scenarios have both blue and red forces within the Combined Air Operations (COMAO). 

Some of the key aims of Anatolian Eagle were outlined during the exercise and include: 

• To systematically test and evaluate the fighters’ combat readiness statuses
• Manage tactical training progress 
• Build a background and knowledge base in order to research tactical aeronautics 
• Conduct research to allow fighter elements of the Turkish Air Force Command to reach the military goals in the shortest time and with minimum resource and effort 
• Support the definition of operational requirements, supply, and research and development activities 
• Allocate training environment in order to fulfil the requirements of the Turkish Air Force Command 
• Support tests of existing/developed/future weapon/aircraft systems

The participants of Anatolian Eagle have access to a training environment within a 300km by 400km area located between Konya and Ankara which keeps transit time to a minimum. Within this training area are three air-to-ground ranges at Tersakan, Koc and Karapmar containing surface-to-air threats from SA-6, SA-8, SA-11 and ZSU 23-4 systems providing a realistic environment for the scenarios to be played out against. The Konya Air Base has all the facilities you would expect of a world class training facility, but perhaps its best feature is its geographic location. 

During the mission all flight information is transmitted back to the Command and control centre via ACMI (Air Combat Manoeuvring Instrumentation) in real time. NATO E-3A AWACS and Turkish Air Force Boeing 737 AEW&C Peace Eagle aircraft provide data links to other aircraft passing them information such as targets, location of friendly forces in the area and to provide tactical information to defeat enemy forces. After the mission, the aircrews from both Blue and Red forces debrief in the main briefing room to gather lessons learnt in order to improve their skills. 

During the exercise two missions were flown every day (Eagle 1 and 2) with one morning wave and an afternoon wave, each with up to 60 aircraft involved in the exercise. Throughout the missions the Turkish Air Force provided air refueling and also tactical transport with C-130 Hercules and CASA 235s.  

In total the exercise involved some 1350 international personnel who gained experience in a high-impact, mind-concentrating environment, exercising in the relatively uncluttered air space offered by the range coordinators at Konya. The freedom afforded at this central Turkish location enabled package commanders to follow the ‘train as you fight’ doctrine that normal everyday training perhaps cannot provide. By the end of the exercise some 1022 missions had been flown by the participating aircraft and crews. 

(Source: Turkish Air Force Public Affairs/Media Office)

Aviation-shots would like to thank Col. Ömer Özkan for permission to attend Anatolian Eagle 2014-2, Maj. Hasan Saffet Çelikel. Commander Anatolian Eagle Training Centre and to all the base staff at 3rd Air Wing (Ana Jet Üssü) Konya Air Base for their warm welcome and hospitality.