RIYADH: The Royal Saudi Air Force took part in multinational air exercise INIOCHOS 2024, held at the Air Tactics Center in Greece.
Over the course of two weeks, air forces from several countries carried out a variety of simulated combat air operations, involving planning cells, command of air missions and campaigns, intelligence missions and forward air control tasks during close air support operations.
The commanding pilot of the Saudi contingent in the exercise, Lt. Col. Abdulaziz Al-Harbi, said that months of preparation led to achieving planned objectives at all levels.
He praised the efforts of the Saudi air, technical and support crews, who “demonstrated professionalism and high readiness.”
INIOCHOS is one of Europe’s largest military exercises. Deployment began on April 1 and continued until April 7, while the secondary execution phase started on April 8 and ended on April 18. The third phase of the drill, force redeployment, took place from April 19-21.
The Royal Saudi Air Force sent six Typhoon aircraft along with air, technical and support crews to the exercise, the Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense said.
The RSAF members aimed to enhance readiness, exchange expertise, simulate a real war environment and plan complex air operations in an environment involving multinational forces, the ministry added.
Participating countries included Cyprus, France, Montenegro, Qatar, Romania, Spain, the UK and the US.
