From May 6 to 10 and from May 21 to 24, the Eurofighter pilots of the Armed Forces interception maneuvers in the supersonic range. Two supersonic flights are planned each day between 8.00 am and 4.00 pm.
“Air strikes such as those by Iran against Israel or Russia’s attacks on Ukraine (-> current news from the Ukraine war) show how important efficient air defense is for a country to protect its citizens,” says Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner. “Supersonic interceptors, such as our Eurofighters, are part of this active air defense component. However, it is also necessary to expand the defense against enemy air attacks. To this end, I will sign the declaration of intent to join the Sky Shield missile defense shield at the EU Council of Defense Ministers at the end of May this year (-> Austria plans to participate in Sky Shield); because neutrality alone does not protect us.”
Indispensable for functioning airspace surveillance
Flying supersonic is an essential part of pilot training and education and is indispensable for functioning Austrian airspace surveillance. Safe flight operations must also be guaranteed during supersonic missions and flight safety has the highest priority here too. The pilots train this under real physical stress, which cannot be represented in the simulator. The close and extremely time-critical coordination between military pilots, radar control officers and military and civilian air traffic control is also a key purpose of the training.
Flights are conducted over almost the entire federal territory with the exception of conurbations and the federal states of Tyrol and Vorarlberg. The flight areas are determined in cooperation with civil air traffic control. In order to keep the noise level as low as possible, flights are flown at high altitudes.
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