Four MAGDAY events are usually scheduled a year and German hosts them as the Framework Nation for the project. However, due the impact of the coronavirus pandemic has reduced the exercise serials to two in 2020; a first MAGDAY event took place in June with participants from the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland and Slovakia.

The focus of the MAGDAYs that concluded on August 27 was on establishing air superiority in an area by engaging a fictitious opponent’s ground-based air defence systems. Another special highlight of the event was the fact that for the first time, the Israeli Air Force sent F-16 fighter aircraft and a Boeing 707 refueller to participate in this framework. Israel is a NATO Partner country under the Mediterranean Dialogue programme.

The focus of the MAGDAYs that concluded on August 27 was on establishing air superiority in an area by engaging a fictitious opponent’s ground-based air defence systems. Another special highlight of the event was the fact that for the first time, the Israeli Air Force sent F-16 fighter aircraft and a Boeing 707 refueller to participate in this framework. Israel is a NATO Partner country under the Mediterranean Dialogue programme.

For the Hungarian JAS-39 Gripens it was the fourth participation in the MAGDAYs. Five Gripen fighters deployed to Jagel in northern Germany to fly missions out of the German Air Base hosted by the German Tactical Air Wing 51 “Immelmann”. 

During one phase of the exercise the Hungarian Gripens took off to a temporary segregated training area above the North Sea where the met for aerial drills with the Israeli F-16s and German Eurofighters flying in from Nörvenich and six Tornado from Tactical Air Wing at Büchel. The Tornados were the lead formation during these MAGDAYs. 

Multinational air groups are combined air task forces; they constitute the basis for NATO operations and help further improve the military cooperation within the Alliance and with Partners. Israel is a good example of how aligned non-NATO members can add to NATO tactics, techniques and procedures – a welcome experience..