From May 9 to 27, 2024, LA 21st Tactical Air Force Base Čáslav will host the international air exercise Lion Effort 2024 (LE24), which will be attended by 500 soldiers, including approximately 150 soldiers from abroad, and more than twenty aircraft. The flight part of the exercise is planned from May 13 to 24.
Lion Effort is the fifth exercise of the group of states operating the JAS-39 Gripen aircraft, which is known by the abbreviation GUG (Gripen Users Group). In 2009, the host was the Republic of Hungary, the second exercise of this kind took place in 2012 in the Kingdom of Sweden, the third in 2015 in the Czech Republic and the fourth in 2018 again in the Republic of Hungary. In 2021, this exercise was canceled due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
The Lion Effort 2024 air exercise will be special this year for several reasons, most notably that the Swedish Air Force will participate in the exercise for the first time as LA 32nd member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This year's Lion Effort will also include the Ramstein Guard 2024 exercise, which is focused on conducting combat activities in electronic warfare conditions, focused on the activities of flight crews in conditions of jamming of onboard radars, radio communications and GPS satellite navigation systems. Last but not least, the A-330MRTT aircraft will be available for in-flight refueling training as part of the NATO - Multinational Multi-Role Tanker and Transport Fleet (MMF) program, which the Czech Republic joined last year.
The flight part of the exercise itself is planned from 13 to 24 May 2024. Gripen aircraft of the Czech Air Force, the Republic of Hungary and the Kingdom of Sweden will participate in the LE24 exercise on behalf of the GUG. The Kingdom of Thailand, as well as the Brazilian Air Force, will participate in the exercise without their aircraft. Other participants in LE24 will be Czech L-159 fighters or the C-295 CASA transport aircraft, the FA-20 Falcon interceptor aircraft belonging to the Draken company, and German Eurofighter Typhoon, Polish F-16 and A-330MRTT tanker aircraft will operate from their home base.
For such a large-scale air exercise, a total of three flight areas, designated as LION, had to be allocated in the airspace of the Czech Republic, as well as two corridors for flights between individual areas, or for flying at low flight levels, designated as SW. The exercise program will be divided into two main blocks. In the morning, from 08:00 to 09:30 UTC, missions will be carried out according to a complex scenario under the coordination of all exercisers (so-called Composite Air Operations – COMAO), most often in the areas LION 1 and LION 2 . In the afternoon, from 13:00 to 15:00 UTC, the so-called Shadow Wave missions will follow , which will focus on maneuver air combat, close air support tasks including in-flight refueling, most often in the areas of LION 3, SW 1 and SW 2 and also in activated areas according to the AUP (TRA 3x - airspace over the Highlands and TRA 1x - airspace near the air base in Náměšť).
More than twenty aircraft will have a unique opportunity to practice air combat tactics together and practice techniques and procedures to increase combat capability and interoperability within the alliance. We ask the general aviation public to understand and respect the restrictions on the use of airspace that an exercise of this scale entails.
Prepared by members of the Combat Training Department of the Air Force Command of the Czech Republic