On 29th August 2022, the ninth edition of multinational exercise Ample Strike / Odolné nebe 2022, focused on enhancing the level of cooperation between aviation crews and Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTAC).
As usual, the exercise is organized by the Czech Armed Forces and held in an area of Boletice and Libavá training ranges in the Czech Republic. This year, approximately 900 of military personnel from seven NATO countries – the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia and the United States are participating in the training.
Aircraft from five Allied countries are involved in the exercise, including Mi-171Sh, Mi-24V/Mi-35, L-159 ALCA and CASA C-295M from the Czech Republic, Pilatus PC-9B, Panavia Tornado and Eurofighter EF 2000 from Germany, Mi-17M from Slovakia, Pilatus PC-9M from Slovenia, as well as AH-64D Apache, KC-135 Stratotanker and F-16 Fighting Falcon from the United States.
Participating aircraft will be operating from Náměšť, Čáslav and Kbely air bases in the Czech Republic, although Luftwaffe and the US aircraft will, as usual, operate directly from their usual bases in Germany.
Among the main goals of the exercise there are enhancing the level of cooperation between the JTAC, the aircraft crews and commanders of the ground forces, especially in multinational environment, execute close air support missions, as well as proving the capability of Host Nation Support (the host nation ability to support the deployments of foreign forces).
For the first time, the Air National Command Centre (ANCC) in Stará Boleslav will be involved in the exercise. The ANCC will participate in organization and supervision of Composite Air Operations (COMAO), being the new, second stage of Ample Strike 2022
This year´s edition of the Ample Strike exercise will be held until 16th September, with the main live-fly activities scheduled from 5th day of the month until the end of the training.
Cover photo: Aero L-159T2 ´ALCA´, Czech Air Force. Information from Czech armed forces press releases were used.
