The maneuvers of Air Excellence Center Exercise ‘Aces Meet 2021’ have been launched at Mus’haf Air Base, in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, with participation of the Royal Saudi Air Force, the US Air Force, as well as Pakistani Air Force (PAF).

The launch took place Monday in the presence of the Saudi Military Attaché in Pakistan, Major General Pilot Awadh bin Abdullah Al-Zahrani, and the PAF Deputy Chief of Air Staff (Operations) Air Vice Marshal Waqas Ahmed Sulehri, a PAF press statement said.

Top defense diplomats of Jordan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Air Attaché of United States of America also attended the ceremony.

The Aces Meet 2021 is a two-week aerial exercise to maximize the combat readiness of participating countries through air-to-air combat training. Bahrain, Egypt, and Jordanian air forces are invited as observers.

The Royal Saudi Air Force is taking part in the exercise with a number Tornedo fighter aircraft, with their full air, technical and back up crews, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

Commanding operations officer of the Royal Saudi Air Force group participating in the exercise, Lt. Colonel Hamad bin Mohammed Al-Hajri, said the exercise will be carried out in different stages, including planning and implementing various air training, counter operations, in defense as well as offense sorties, according to different war (Scenarios), in addition to training on mastering carrying out air operations, in a different environment of the Saudi Arabian environment.

For his part, the principal of supply and provisioning (catering) of the participating group Captain Eng. Abdulrahman bin Dhaifullah Al-Omari pointed out that through working in a heterozygous environment, the technical crews maintain, equip and arm the aircraft in accordance with the best standards of quality, following safety procedures, to meet the operational need and upgrade the combat readiness.

PAF Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Vice-Marshal Waqas Ahmed Sulehri was the chief guest at the opening ceremony of the air exercise.

Speaking at the ceremony of the fourth multinational air exercise, Sulehri said International exercises are new neither for the participants nor for the Airpower Center of Excellence. Adding that this particular cycle of ACES Meet is unique because participating air forces bring along a vast experience of combat operations, whether in counterterrorism or composite flying fields.

PAF platform must be fully utilized to share the indispensable experiences for joint benefits, he further added.