The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) concluded its participation in the multinational air exercise INIOCHOS, carried out this year at the Air Tactics Center in the Republic of Greece.

Over the course of two weeks, air forces from several countries carried out diverse combat air operations with planning cells and command of air missions and campaigns, in addition to intelligence missions and forward air control tasks during close-air-support operations, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The commanding pilot of the Saudi team participating in the exercise, Lieutenant Colonel Abdulaziz Al-Harbi, said that the preparations that preceded the exercise in the past months contributed to achieving the planned objectives at all levels, and praised the efforts of its air, technical and support crews who acted with professionalism and high readiness.

INIOCHOS is one of Europe’s largest military exercises. Deployment began on April 1 and continued until April 7, while the secondary execution phase started on April 8 and ended on April 18. The third phase of the drill, force redeployment, took place from April 19-21.

The Royal Saudi Air Force sent six Typhoon aircraft along with air, technical and support crews to the exercise, the Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense said.

The RSAF members aimed to enhance readiness, exchange expertise, simulate a real war environment and plan complex air operations in an environment involving multinational forces, the ministry added.

Participating countries included Cyprus, France, Montenegro, Qatar, Romania, Spain, the UK and the US.