Allied air forces have demonstrated high-end air power across Europe during Exercise Ramstein Flag 25 (RAFL25), with aerial refuelling assets playing a pivotal role in enabling distributed air operations and maintaining mission tempo.
According to a NATO news update, more than 90 aircraft from over 15 NATO nations are participating in the premier Allied Air Command exercise, operating from dispersed locations and conducting complex multi-domain missions across the European theatre. Aircraft involved include F-35s, Eurofighters, Rafales, Gripens, F-16s, and F-18s.
Seven air-to-air refuelling platforms—provided by Canada, France, Italy, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, the United States, and NATO’s Multinational Multirole Tanker Transport Unit—are sustaining the exercise’s operational pace. These include the Canadian Polaris CC-150, Italian E550A, Turkish KC-135R, UK Voyager, US KC-135 Stratotanker, and the A330 MRTT.
The exercise focuses on enhancing interoperability, increasing resilience against threats to fixed infrastructure, and validating NATO’s distributed air operations doctrine. The ability to project and sustain air power from multiple locations is seen as critical in an evolving security environment marked by peer adversaries and contested airspace.
Aerial refuelling is a critical force multiplier, NATO officials said, allowing Allied aircraft to remain airborne for extended periods, execute long-range missions, and rapidly respond across the theatre.
Ramstein Flag also serves to test command and control mechanisms and logistics support across different nations and basing environments. NATO’s air mobility and refuelling network is key to ensuring that fighter jets can operate independently of fixed base infrastructure—one of the core tenets of distributed operations.
In a statement, NATO described the exercise as “a key demonstration of NATO’s air power, resilience, and commitment to collective defence.”
I think pulled asset pools where individual NATO members own and contribute key enablers like this is the way to go. I have severe reservations on NATO owning and operating assets because they would require unanimous consent to use in a war which means you would be giving Hungary, turkey or even Donald Trump a veto on their use.
We need to stop looking at NATO as a military, it’s a useful alliance structure that’s all.
The Italian Air Force provides a KC-767 tanker (flying straight from it home base).The E550 also takes part in the exercise but is not a tanker.