Old rockers of combat aviation at an Iniochos with absences, including Spain

Once again, the Hellenic Air Force is carrying out its major annual exercise Iniochos, this year with many absences.

Beautiful images of the last F-4 Phantom II fighters active in Europe
The Hellenic Air Force celebrates 50 years of its Phantom II fighters with an excellent video

This exercise is being conducted from March 2 to 23 at Andravida Air Base, in western Greece, with the execution phase from March 9 to 20. International circumstances have greatly affected this exercise. After three consecutive years of participation, the Spanish Air Force is not participating. Currently, EF-18 fighters from Wing 15 are deployed in Lithuania on a Baltic Air Policing (BAP) mission, and Eurofighters from Wing 14 returned yesterday from Romania. It so happens that the Israeli Air Force usually participates in this exercise, and one has to wonder if the current Spanish government's terrible relationship with Israel and its growing affinity towards Turkey (an enemy of Greece) has influenced this absence.

Although they were expected to participate, the USAF and the Israeli Air Force also did not attend Iniochos. The military intervention of both countries in Iran explains these absences. Between this situation and the Russian threat in Eastern Europe, ultimately only Greece and France contributed fighter jets to this exercise. The French Air Force is also participating with a Boeing E-3F Sentry early warning aircraft. In addition, Slovenia has sent PC-9 turboprop training aircraft and Albania an AS-532 Cougar helicopter (below). International participation is rounded out by a Polish Special Forces team, as well as observers from Croatia, Georgia, Serbia, and India.

This year, apart from the Greek Dassault Rafale fighters, Iniochos has been like a reunion of old rockers, with the old F-4E AUPs of the 338 Squadron "Ares," the last Phantom IIs in Europe, as well as Greek F-16 fighters (spread across four combat wings) and French Mirage 2000Ds. These are aircraft from an era before stealth technology, but when fighter jets were truly beautiful.

The Hellenic Air Force yesterday released the official video of Iniochos 26, which you can see below. It provides a good overview of the aircraft participating in this exercise:

DV-DAY Exercise #Iniochos26
🇬🇷 🇫🇷 🇸🇮 🇦🇱
➡️https://t.co/hTDBxSnpUT@EtatMajorFR @FrenchForces @Armee_de_lair @Slovenskavojska#HAF #ΠολεμικήΑεροπορία pic.twitter.com/XDAg7KCICD

— Hellenic Air Force (@HAFspokesperson) March 17, 2026

You can see some more photos of this exercise here, published by the Hellenic Air Force and the French General Staff.

Five French Mirage 2000Ds. The D variant is the conventional attack version of this French fighter. The Mirage 2000 made its first flight on March 10, 1978. The Mirage 2000D made its first flight on February 3, 1986.

A Greek F-4E AUP Phantom II with a beautiful livery commemorating its 50th anniversary with the Hellenic Air Force, celebrated in 2024. Currently, 17 F-4E AUPs remain in service with the 338 Squadron "Ares".

A beautiful image of Greek Phantom IIs and French Mirage 2000Ds. In the image (click on it to enlarge) you can see that the Greek fighters are carrying AN/AAQ-28 Litening II target designators.

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Photos: Πολεμική Αεροπορία / Armée française - Opérations militaires.