During exercise Ramstein Flag 2025 flying operations at Leeuwarden AB in the Northern part of The Netherlands attracted lots of spectators. Dozens of jet aircraft taking off and landing every day was a spectacular sight for locals and aviation enthusiast alike. However the casual observer wouldn’t have noticed that other aircraft than fighter jets also played a very important role in the exercise.

For decades large international exercises have been held at Leeuwarden airbase in the North of The Netherlands, from Diatit in the early nineties to most recent Frisian Flag. So far nothing new. But this year for the first time the exercise was not initiated by the Royal Netherlands Air Force, but by NATO.

The iconic multi-role General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin) F-16 Fighting Falcon made its first flight in 1974. Therefore the type reached its 50th anniversary in 2024. This was amongst others celebrated at the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom, the biggest military airshow in the world. For this occasion an already withdrawn F-16AM of the Koninklijke Luchtmacht (KLu, Royal Netherlands Air Force) received a special colour scheme.

The Russian invasion of the Ukraine and the following war prompted us to give an overview of the flying branches of the Zbroynykh Syl Ukrayiny or Ukrainian Armed Forces. Focus is on operational units (fighters, transport etc.), training units are outside the scope of this overview.

In February the World Defense Show (WDS) was held at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In 2022 a purpose built event location of some 800.000 m² was North of Riyadh especially for the first edition of the WDS, a trade show that is not only aiming to be the largest in the region but also one of the largest worldwide.

On March 14, 2024 the first Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian was delivered to 301 Squadron at Gilze Rijen air force base in The Netherlands. This is the first of twenty Apache’s that 301 Squadron is planned to receive.

Although Sri Lanka is nowadays an island paradise, the country was torn apart during a civil war for multiple decades not too long ago. During that period, the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) had a large budget, and therefor over the years many aircraft were acquired. In 2009 the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE, or Tamil Tigers) were finally defeated and peace prevailed.

Early January saw the arrival of the first F-35A for the Volkel AB based 312 squadron. After a flypast over its future home in the South of The Netherlands the aircraft landed at Leeuwarden AB in the North of the country. Here the acceptance of all European built F-35s for the Koninklijke Luchtmacht (KLu, Royal Netherlands Air Force) is done.

In October the harbour of Vlissingen in the south of The Netherlands got even busier than it normally already is. But instead of with ships, the place is now buzzing with helicopters and vehicles of the United States Army.