Thread by @elisabethmalom1

🧵2 weeks ago I set off to #Turkey to see how its F4E Phantom IIs, which once ruled the skies but have now been outclassed by more advanced fighters, fit into its modern fight. It's clear that these nearly antique fighters are not hangar queens.. just yet
thedrive.com/the-war-zone/f…

2. The AE 2023 exercise involves training alongside partner nations to reduce the loss of inexperienced fighter pilots and their aircraft in potential real-world combat missions, as well as keeping up fighter crews' and GCI (Ground Control Intercept) radar operators' readiness.

3. Since its establishment in 2001, 43 AEs have been performed at the training center located at the 3rd Main Jet Base at Konya. A total of 15 NATO countries have participated in them, including France, Italy, Germany, the United States, and Spain.

4. The unique feature of the event is the size of the airspace and tactical ranges — 120 by 216 nautical miles wide — which allows for more than 60 aircraft to employ their tactics away from any surrounding air traffic for AE missions.

5. The 2023 edition included five international participants alongside Turkish units — Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom and NATO. Observers on the ground comprised personnel from Morocco, Libya, and Georgia.

6. Elements of AE training are divided into 3 categories: white headquarters (command and control), red force (training aids), and blue force (training recipients). Red force is composed of ‘Hammers’ and ‘Hançer,’ which are respectively air defense personnel & aggressor pilots.

7. They're in charge of performing simulated attacks in order to detect vulnerabilities as well as punish mistakes made by the blue force. According to Turkish pilots, ‘punishment’ is usually in the form of a simulated lock and kill, which is checked post-flight to confirm.

8. Scenarios change every year based on participants' requirements in terms of different threats. In this edition, two countries were depicted between red and blue lands, divided by a fictional pipeline that was under attack by a national terrorist group.

9. Participants are also offered the opportunity to fly missions during non-AE sorties in accordance with their training needs, including tactical intercept, dissimilar air combat training (DACT), and electronic warfare duels.

10. According to statements and videos released by the #Azeri MoD, some of the daily tasks practiced included successfully silencing the conventional enemy’s air defense means.

11. “After gaining air superiority, our planes [Su-25s], together with various fighter planes [confirmed to have been F-16s, F-4Es, and Eurofighters], entered the airspace of the conventional enemy and carried out complex combat maneuvers at both medium and high altitudes...

12. to destroy the enemy's stationary ground targets camouflaged in mountainous areas.” That brings us to Turkey’s venerable Phantoms, which are in the twilight of their careers but were still very active at AE 2023.

13. # of active F-4E-2020s varies according to different accounts, but most have placed number of operational airframes at between 30 and 40. Today, only one Turkish F-4 squadron remains — 111 Filo ‘Panterler’ based out of Eskisehir Air Base. 4 from the unit were deployed for AE

14. A Turkish official said "We still actively use the F4-E-2020, as its avionics improved thoroughly in the air-to-ground role. Since it is also equipped with self-protection ECM pods, we primarily rely on it as an air-to-air escort and protection in the air theater."

15. "In both the AE exercise and in real-life operations, we coordinate and fly with both national and international air-to-air assets, such as F-16s and UAVs,” he added.
He declined to answer whether the Turkish Air Force is training new pilots to operate the Phantom//#Greece is

16. Douglas Barrie, senior research fellow at IISS tsaid “Upgraded Turkish F-4s retain combat utility in that they would be able to be operated in permissive airspace — where there was little anti-air threat or to operate outside of highly contested airspace if the aircraft were

17. fitted with standoff weapons in the air-to-surface tasks." He adds that there also arguably remains value in having two aircrews for some roles at least.

18. Turkey's remaining F-4s can further serve as standoff shooters for TV-guided Popeye missiles that carry a nearly 800-pound warhead and have a range of around 50 miles.

19. Regardless, getting to see F-4s still earning their keep in 2023 is something to behold.

True to their name, it likely won’t be all that much longer until they disappear for good.