German Typhoon roars home with Tiger Meet award for Ghost Tiger Typhoon

The Tiger Trophies are hotly-contested each year, and have been since the Tiger Meet originally launched in 1961. It was the Ghost Tiger’s distinctive design which stood out to the judges, displaying green and black striped markings across the entire top of the Typhoon, covering the wings, tail and body.

During the two weeks of exercise at the NATO Tiger Meet 2018 (NTM18), the Eurofighter community was represented by Italy, Germany and Spain.

The Italian Air Force was present with four Typhoons from the 12°Gruppo at Gioia del Colle Air Base. Four Typhoons from Tactical Air Wing 74 in Neuburg were in attendance from the German Air Force and the Spanish Air Force participated with four Typhoons from 142 Escuadrón – Albacete Air Base.

The Tiger Typhoons from these three Eurofighter nations successfully conducted complex Composite Air Operations, focusing their training in several types of missions.

These included the implementation of a No-Fly zone, the defence and the attack of HVAA (High Valuable Airborne Assets), DCA Defensive Counter Air, OCA Offensive Counter Air, Personnel Recovery and Search and Rescue missions.

22 squadrons from 13 countries took part in NTM18, including Italy, Spain, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Switzerland, Austria, France and Great Britain.

A total of 70 aircraft, 10 helicopters and an AWACS Early Warning took part in the large-scale aerial exercise, held annually with the objective of exchanging tactical knowledge and improving interoperability between various NATO and non-NATO air arms.