German Luftwaffe and Israeli Air Force in air exercises

During the period 17 to 27 August 2020, Israel Air Force F-16C/D Barak fighters participated in exercises Blue Wings and MAGDAYs 2020 in Germany. The German Luftwaffe and the Israeli Air Force had earlier trained together in 2019 at Ovda AFB in Israel in exercise BlueFlag, and in August 2020, the Luftwaffe hosted the MAGDAY (Multinational Air Group Days) exercises.

Chief of the Luftwaffe, Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz had invited the Israeli Air Force to take part in this exercise. In preparation for this joint exercise, the Israelis flew to Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 31 ‘Boelcke’ a week before MAGDAY to plan necessary tactics, train technicians and standardise various procedures for this event. These two exercises were the first on German soil between the Air Forces of Israel and Germany, a historical event.

First of the two weeks bilateral exercise Blue Wings 2020, was a follow on to the earlier exercise Blue Flag which had taken place in Israel during 2019. Six F-16C/D Barak fighters, two Boeing 707 Re’em tankers and two Gulfstream G-550 Nachshon-Eitam aircraft flew to Nörvenich Air Base in

Germany. The Luftwaffe flew its EF2000 Eurofighters during the exercise from Tactical Air Squadron 31 ‘Boelcke’ (TLG31). Over the two weeks, aircrew practiced numerous aerial scenarios alongside the German NATO aircraft as part of the MAG (Multinational Air Group) exercise.

The air exercises included air- to- air combat, ground attack, countering surfaceto- air missile threats and other combat scenarios in hostile environment. There

During the second week, the actual MAGDAYs exercise was held with German, Israeli and Hungarian participants. The Hungarians brought 4 Saab Gripens and 30 staff members and were located with the Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 51 Immelmann’ at Jagel airbase in SchleswigHolstein.

Lieutenant- General Ingo Gerhartz Commander of the German Luftwaffe welcomed the Israelis and stated “On behalf of the German Air Force, it is an honour for me to welcome the Israeli Air Force entering German airspace for the first time in history. My Israeli friends led by General Amikam Norkin is now flying side by side as our Blue Wings.”