Three Weeks in the Air

Aircraft of seven nations are participating in the third edition of the three-week international exercise Load Diffuser in 2017. Several F-16 fighters and two C-130 Hercules transport planes from the Ohio National Guard, the Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopters of the Croatian Air Force and a PC-9 of the Slovenian armed forces have deployed to the HDF 59th Dezső Szentgyörgyi Air Base, Kecskemét to execute the tasks. The Gripens and L-159s of the Czech Air Force, as well as the MiG-29 and L-39 aircraft and Mi-8 helicopters of the Slovak Air Force will, however, take off from their own bases. Currently stationed in Romania, the Eurofighters of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) will join the phases of the exercise in the third week.

On the first day of Load Diffuser 2017, the representatives of participating nations were welcomed by Brig.-Gen. Csaba Ugrik, the commander of Kecskemét air base hosting the event, and by Exercise Director Col. Pál Szűcs, and then Maj. Gergely Gróf briefed them on the tasks of the coming days.

This is the third time that Exercise Load Diffuser is held in Kecskemét. In 2008 and 2010, the Hungarian fighter pilots partnered only their American colleagues to fly combined air-to-air missions, but this year, on the host nation’s initiative, the neighboring NATO member countries also join the exercise, because due to the small size of their air forces, they rarely have occasion to carry out such complex tactical missions with multiple roles. The participants have agreed that in the future, Load Diffuser exercises of a similar scale will be held at Kecskemét air base every three years.

Gen. Ugrik told us that the venue of the exercise will be a requested ad hoc airspace in the Transdanubia and the area of the Mátra Hills. According to plans, in the first days the participants will conduct one-on-one and one-on-two air combat, and the tasks will be increasing in complexity. As a result of the recent upgrade to the Gripens’ armament, this year there will be opportunities to practice cooperation with the ground forces and execute air-to-ground (Close Air Support, CAS) missions. Twice a week an AWACS aircraft will take off from an air base in Germany to support the exercise, in the last week of which a mission will be flown that involves 30 military aircraft at the same time in the airspace of Hungary. The participants will not practice night flying and will not conduct live firing either.

In parallel with Load Diffuser, the Kecskemét fighter pilots must meet another two challenges. After taking off in Hungary, they will imitate bombing in Slovenia during Exercise Adriatic Strike, and, together with a NATO jamming aircraft, will also participate in an electronic warfare exercise in the coming days.

Photos by the author