(Photo and text by Angelo Bottazzi)
Falcon Strike 2025, the Air Force’s most important training event of the year, began on November 3rd at Amendola Air Base.
The exercise, which will conclude on November 14th, will primarily deploy to the 32nd Wing, but will also involve other Air Force bases, with the arrival of pilots, specialists, and aircraft from other Italian and foreign flight units.
Over 1,000 military personnel and over 50 assets from Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Greece will train side by side to improve operational readiness and the ability to cooperate in multinational missions. In addition to air assets, the exercise will involve land and naval units from the Ministry of Defense, particularly the Italian Air Force, along with assets and personnel from the Navy.
Exercises such as Falcon Strike 2025 represent an opportunity to train personnel to ensure readiness for national needs in light of the Air Force’s current commitments both domestically and in theaters of operation abroad, with changing and increasingly complex international scenarios.
This is what the Air Force’s introductory post to the ongoing exercise says.
Obviously, we couldn’t miss an event of this magnitude, so we decided to leave for Amendola on the night of the 5th to have the whole day to devote to observing the flight activity from the outside, understanding the existing fleet, and then the next day to participate in Spotter Day, for which we are accredited, so as to adequately cover the event photographically, covering both takeoffs and landings.
This is what the Air Force’s introductory post to the ongoing exercise says.
Obviously, we couldn’t miss an event of this magnitude, so we decided to leave for Amendola on the night of the 5th to have the whole day to devote to observing the flight activity from the outside, understanding the existing fleet, and then the next day to participate in Spotter Day, for which we are accredited, so as to adequately cover the event photographically, covering both takeoffs and landings. tranquillità.
Landings are therefore recovered quite easily while take-offs are almost impossible.
We arrive around 7am on a fantastic day from a weather point of view, clear skies but rather cold due to the strong wind from the north-east, which reaches up to twenty knots at times..
With these stable wind conditions, the runway in use is 29R and this guarantees that we will not even do a take-off, because when they pass over us they will already be quite high, but good conditions for landings.
And so it will be, take-offs begin at 8.20, sixteen planes from four nations depart in sequence: Italy, Greece, France and the United States.
The 32nd Wing, composed of the 13th Group equipped with F-35As and the 101st Group with F-35Bs, is based at the base. Five F-35As, including Diavoli and Paperi, were deployed from Ghedi for the exercise.
while four F35Bs and six AV8B+s are deployed from the Navy’s Grupaer in Grottaglie
Five F16Cs, converted to the latest V version, arrived from Greece from the 340th Mira Fox of Souda (Crete)
France is present with five Rafale Cs of the 5e Escadre de chasse based at BA 115 in Orange
the United States with at least eight F35As from the 48th Fighter Wing coming from the English base of Lakenheath.
The exercise also includes British F35Bs from the Royal Navy, departing from the Prince of Wales near Crete.
These figures are obviously based on the observation of the serial numbers of the aircraft that have flown and those seen at the base and are obviously to be taken with a pinch of salt.
The morning mission ends at 10:30 a.m. with the landing of the last aircraft. Operations will resume at 1:50 p.m., with twenty-eight aircraft from the various units taking off in sequence over the course of about an hour.
The wind is constant and the direction of the flight activity is predictable, so we position ourselves at head 29R and wait for the landings which….never happen!
We hadn’t counted on the short November days.
At 4:30 PM, the sun was setting reddish toward the horizon. We managed to capture only six F35As, which were also making a few low approaches. Then the sun set and the sky grew darker, illuminated by a fantastic full moon.
The other aircraft would all arrive almost in the dark, after more than three hours of mission, with in-flight refueling..
We hadn’t counted on the short November days.
At 4:30 PM, the sun was setting reddish toward the horizon. We managed to capture only six F35As, which were also making a few low approaches. Then the sun set and the sky grew darker, illuminated by a fantastic full moon.
The other aircraft would all arrive almost in the dark, after more than three hours of mission, with in-flight refueling. speranza di rifarci il giorno dopo.
In the morning, we show up at the base for registration and pass issuance. There are about seventy of us spotters, many acquaintances and familiar faces gathered here for the importance of the event.
After the briefing, we are escorted to a position completely backlit at the end of Runway 11, hoping that the planes that had been flying since the morning would return from this side. A vain hope, however, as they land from Runway 29R and taxi in front of us, black and white.
Dismay, disappointment, and nervousness are quite evident among the group. Thanks to the military personnel accompanying us, who understand our needs and work hard to convince those responsible for issuing the necessary authorizations, we manage to be escorted to a position with the sun at our backs, facing the second runway and level with the control tower.
From here, we can observe from a distance the planes taxiing toward Runway 11, then the takeoff roll, the liftoff, the complete retraction of the landing gear, and the climb into the blue sky. We’re not very close, but we’re close enough, and we can be satisfied.
The first takeoff is around 12:30, well earlier than the previous day. Even though the mission will last just as long, this time we have a good chance of capturing all the landings. After lunch in the base mess hall and a group photo in front of the gate guardian, AMX 32-01, we’re told they’ll take us to the same place as the takeoffs to capture the landings, but at that point the planes are already on the ground, regardless of their direction.
We quickly make a decision and politely ask to leave early, which is granted.
This time, we can’t miss the takeoffs if we want to provide a full service.
They tell us they’re expecting a return from runway 11, but they can’t guarantee it, so we head straight for 29R, hoping they’ll return from this side, the most favorable. This time, the gamble pays off, and around 3:30 PM, the first plane arrives, a USAF F35A, followed by all the others.
It was a tough day, but we managed to get what we came for. As we walked toward the car, with the sky turning pink, two Navy F35Bs arrived, the last of the afternoon mission.
While the wingman lands from runway 11, the leader makes two low approaches with a dizzying return climb at full AB and condensation trails on the wingtips, we are grateful for the spectacle and face the long journey home with satisfaction.
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