Final day in Astral Knight 19

It was an honour to me to take part inthe Exercise and to represent Croatia among other participants, said 1st Lt. Alić

Having performed the assigned sorties the Fighter Aircraft Squadron of the 91st Air Base of the Croatian Air Force on 3 June 2019 concluded its participation in the joint multinational exercise Astral Knight 2019.

The Exercise,engaging a total of 40 aircraft, among which two Croatian Air Force’s MiGs-21 , which conducted air operations concurrently in the north Adriatic air space, was directed by the United States Air Force in Europe (USAFE ) staff. 

From 3 – 6 June 2019 which saw the main part of the Exercise the focus was on joint operation and practice of integrated air & missile defence (IAMD), and the training was a combination of flight operations and computer-assisted scenarios.

For the purpose of the Exercise the Squadron relocated a part of its forces to the Barracks “Pukovnik Mirko Vukušić” at Zemuniku, which has been a take-off and landing spot. The Squadron Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Christian Jagodić stated that the Squadron successfully completed all sorties and praised the peformance of the entire team, composed of pilots, air technicians and other staff providing support throughout the engagement. “Our participation has confirmed and enhanced our readiness and interoperability with the allies and partners”, said Lt. Col. Jagodić.

One of the youngest participants, 1st Lt. Šime Alić said he was honoured to take part in the Exercfise and to represent Croatia among the participating countries. “I was fully focussed on carrying out the assigned mission and wanted to do contribute to tthe success of the Exercise. It has been an unique experience and an excellent combat pilot training activity. Flying with pilots of other armed forces and fulfilling tasks together was a great experience too”, said 1st Lt. Alić.