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Falcon Leap 2020 |
Latest update: September 2020 |
The annual Falcon Leap exercise organized by
Royal Netherlands Army 11 Luchtmobiele Brigade (11 Air Mobile Brigade)
was held from September 7 - 18. Falcon Leap was divided into two weeks
with the first week (Sept. 7 - 11) dedictated to Cargo Delivery System
(CDS) drops and the second week (Sept. 15 - 18) dedicated to the Para
Jump Exercise (PJE). Cargo drops can only be conducted on a few military installations. For this years edition both Deelen (military reserve aviation terrain) and Oldebroek (artillery range 't Harde) were planned to be used. Three missions per day were scheduled with the airspace reserved in two hours blocks: 10.00 - 12.00 ; 14.00 - 16.00 and 18.00 - 20.00. Both the French and USAF Hercules arrived on Monday September 7. Despite the weather conditions on the Monday the afternoon and evening sortie were not flown. On Tuesday and Wednesday all CDS drops were cancelled due to the cloud ceiling. The French and Netherlands C-130's flew a local mission but the USAF Hercules departed back to Ramstein AB during the Tuesday. On Thursday all three blocks were used. The French KC-130J departed back home on Friday early afternoon. COVID-19 (corona): due to the ongoing corona situation the RNLA and RNLAF decided to keep the information to a minimum in order to not expose the participating paratroopers and other personnel to non participating people. For the same reason a media day wasn't organized. |
Article exercise Falcon Leap 2020 | Photo gallery: CDS (Deelen) | Photo gallery: PJE (Ginkelse heide) |
Photo gallery Eindhoven air base | ||
Participants Falcon Leap 2020 |
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Comment(s): Week 1: The missions on the Tuesday and Wednesday were cancelled due to the weather conditions (low cloud base and drizzle). On Monday both the French air force and USAF Hercules arrived. The AFRC C-130H didn't fly missions as it already returned to Ramstein AB on Tuesday. Week 2: The Belgian Air Component C-130H arrived during Tuesday and participated in three missions on Wednesday. It then returned back home. One C-130H assigned to the West Virgina ANG didn't fly the third mission on Tuesday and the entire Wednesday as it was unservicable. On the morning of the Thursday the second Hercules arrived and joined the missions from the second wave. Friday early morning saw the arrival of the C-130J.30 assigned to the 37 AS. Two missions were flown (morning and early afternoon). All three USAF C-130's departed back to Ramstein AB during the afternoon. The Austrian SC-7 Skyvans were operating on behalf of the Czech Republic who participated with their paratroopers. |
Photo gallery participants |
Belgian Air Component C-130H Hercules | French Air Force KC-130J Super Hercules | German Air Force C-130D Transall |
Royal Netherlands AF C-130H Hercules | USAF ANG C-130H Hercules | USAF&AFA C-130J.30 Super Hercules |