Between the 2nd and the 12th of May, the Turkish Air Force (Türk Hava Kuvvetleri) hosted the annual international exercise ‘Anadolu Kartali 2023-2’, internationally better known as Anatolian Eagle, at their 3rd Main Jet Base in Konya, located near the city of Konya in the South-West part of central Türkiye. the Anatolian Eagle Training Centre at Konya was the main stage for both the national and the foreign participants from Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Qatar, the United Kingdom , the United Arab Emirates and NATO. The Royal Saudi Air Force was also scheduled to attend with F-15SA fighters, but their participation was withdrawn prior to the start of the exercise.
The Anatolian Eagle Training Centre consist of three elements; White, blue and red. White is the headquarter, which is responsible for the training scenarios and to determine the level of training. They also monitor, command, evaluate and analyse the missions. The blue forces are the trainees with their various types of assets during the course. The red force acts as a vicious enemy in the air but also included air-to-ground assets.
The objectives are to increase the operational training level of the pilots and air defence personnel in an as realistic environment as possible. To exercise and develop joint and combined operational procedures, to limit the loss of assets to a minimum level and to increase the mission effectiveness to a maximum level in a real operational environment.
Redland, Blue land, a terrorist organization and a pipeline, all ingredients in a fictitious scenario in which pilots had to plan and execute their missions. The aircrew of the blue forces got the chance to execute their planned tactics with large force compositions during realistic combat scenarios. Meanwhile Redland defended, both in the air and on the ground, with various GBAD systems (Ground Based Air Defence). Blue forces aircrew had to cope with various threats including ground assets such as a Russian built SA-6, NATO codename ‘Gainful’ mobile surface-to-air missile system and a SA-8 (NATO codename Gecko) low-altitude, short-range surface-to-air-missile system while locally based F-16s assigned to 132 Filo acted as red air aggressors.
The training also provides a platform to exchange ideas and lessons learned. A regular training day consists of two missions each day, a large Composite Air Operations (COMAO) wave in the morning followed by other, smaller and less complex missions in the afternoon.
With a range nearby and an available airspace from ground level up to 50.000 feet and around 50.000 square miles of surface area, including an area above sea for maritime operations, the airbase is geographically well situated to execute a wide variety of missions.
Host nation Türkiye participated with several types of assets, which included more than thirty F-16s from various units and a quartet of F-4E-2020 Phantoms, operated by 111 Filo, based at Eskişehir, operating in the Air to Ground role as a replacement for the Royal Saudi Air Force F-15SA fighters. Arial refuelling was provided by one KC-135R that operated out of it’s homebase to support both the blue and red forces. One ANKA-S UCAV (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle) and one Bayraktar Akinci hight-altitude long-endurance (HALE) unmanned combat arial vehicle (UCAV). Both the UCAVs operated out of their homebases.
A Locally based Boeing E-7T Wedgetail AWACS (Airborne Early Warning and Control System ), operated by 131 Filo and a NATO E-3A AEW&CF (Control Force) AWACS contributed in the exercise. The AWACS crews provided command and control support (C2) while using their long-range radar and passive sensor capabilities for the participating fighters. The 3rd Main Jet Base Konya is also a Forward Operating Base (FOB) for the NATO AWACS fleet since 1983.
The United Arab Emirates Air Force attended with four F-16E/F Desert Falcons from Al Dhafra air base. Multi-role missions were flown with the block 60 F-16s carrying Sniper Advanced Targeting pods to detect, identify and automatically track and laser designates targets, combined with Raytheon’s AIM-120C-7 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) or AGM-65G2 infrared-guided Maverick air-to-surface missiles. The AGM-65G2 missile is the improved version of the AGM-65G, with improved software and uses three different seekers; television, infrared and laser.
Azerbaijan has closed ties with Türkiye and is a regular at Konya. Like the previous year, a pair of Sukhoi Su-25 ground attack fighters took part in the exercise, making it an interesting mix of aircraft during this year’s exercise with different generations fighters in which aircrew could learn a lot about the other aircraft, their tactics and capabilities. The Sukhoi Su-25s, assigned to the 2nd Squadron, operated in the Air-to-Ground role during the exercise. Both carrying Talisman ECM (Electronic Countermeasure) pods. The Azerbaijan Air Force operates close to a dozen of Sukhoi Su-25s that are being modernised in Türkiye to Su-25BM and are based at Kyrdamir Air Base.
Pakistan is also a regular participant of the Anatolian Eagle exercises, with F-16AM/BM and JF-17 fighters attending during previous editions. This year, 5 Squadron, named the “Falcons”, took part in the exercise with five F-16 Block 52+ fighters. 5(MR) Squadron is assigned to the 39 (Tactical) Wing, based at Jacobabad/Shahbaz Air Base. One of the participating aircrew in this course was Flight Lieutenant Eisha ‘Lady Falcon’, the first qualified female pilot flying the F-16 in Pakistan.
The Qatar Emiri Air force was represented by personnel of the 7th Air Superiority Squadron, based at Tamim airbase, that attended with five Typhoon multi-role combat aircraft. The Qatar Emiri Air Force is a new operator of the Typhoon as the first of twenty-four Typhoons was handed over in August 2022. The Detachment Commander, Colonel Faisal Khalid Alghanim stated that “the Qatar Emiri Air Force is eager to participate in the exercise, to reinforce international cooperation for collaborative efforts with the Turkish Air Force and the air forces of other participating nations.” He continued that “one of the tactical objectives pursued in this exercise is to capitalize on the exercise scenario in order to attain new qualifications four our aircrews, who operate in a complex, joint arial operations environment featuring advanced electronic warfare, which plays a crucial role in determining aerial engagements.”
The Royal Air Force arrived originally with four Typhoon FGR4 fighter jets, piloted by 6 Squadron aircrew from Lossiemouth, United Kingdom, but apparently due to a lack of ground personnel they participated more and more while operating from Cyprus. On Tuesday in the second week, the last pair did not return to Konya after the morning mission.
The aircrew were reminded that Anatolian Eagle is not a game. “Train as you fight” is painted on the wall of the briefing room and the aircrew were trained this way during ten days on intense training in which the pilots enhanced their capabilities, shared their ideas and experience while building international relationships as Anatolian Eagle inspires the ages and aces.
