Refueling a TLP mission

In October 2005, TLP session 5/05 was in full swing. TLP stands for Tactical Leadership Programme. This organisation is made up of eight NATO nations under a letter Memorandum of Understanding. The objective is to increase effectiveness of allied tactical air forces. They aim to accomplish this by developing leadership skills, tactical flying capabilities as well as mission planning and tasking capabilities. The duration of a TLP, of which six are given annually, is four weeks in which the complexity increases during the progress of the course.

During this 5th edition of 2005, 3Greens.nl was welcome to join the Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare Italiana) on a air to air refuelling mission. This mission was flown from Eindhoven air base in the Netherlands where the aircraft, a B707T/T was temporarily based. At that time the unit, 8° Grupo / 14° Stormo, was still operating four of these old aircraft, the successors of these tankers/transporters were already ordered and the first was to be delivered around the summer of 2007.

This mission took us to a track just east of England above the North Sea. The trade (slang for 'receivers') would be four aircraft and all were Italian. After positioning the aircraft in our track two Italian Tornado ECR approached our tanker at the right-hand side wing. After they both got their much needed fuel they both joined up at the left-hand wing and soon disappeared in the blue skies. Minutes after the two Tornados left two AMX fighters repeated this routine. It was a wonderful sight to see and everything seemed to be working like clockwork. But if you see this from up close you can imagine it most be tough, even for experienced aircrews. After this we returned safely after a one hour flight to Eindhoven air base.

We would like to thank the aircrew of the Aeronautica Militare Italiane B707T/T for their hospitality and support in preparation for this article.

© 2005 3Greens.nl