The Austrian Air Force will begin its first nationwide supersonic training exercise of the year on Monday, June 8, 2026. The military exercise, scheduled to run until June 19, serves to train and maintain the operational readiness of the Austrian Armed Forces' Eurofighter pilots.
According to the flight schedule, two supersonic training flights are planned each day within a time window of 08:00 a.m. to 16:00 p.m. To minimize noise pollution for the local population, a strict midday break is in effect between 12:00 p.m. and 13:00 p.m. Furthermore, training operations are completely suspended on weekends and public holidays.
Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner emphasized the importance of these flights for national sovereignty in the lead-up to the exercise. Intercepting supersonic aircraft is an indispensable element of airspace surveillance to guarantee the seamless protection of Austrian airspace in an emergency. The training takes place under realistic physical conditions, as the enormous physical stresses caused by G-forces when breaking the sound barrier at an altitude of over 12.500 meters cannot be adequately simulated in a ground-based flight simulator. Another key focus is on time-critical communication and coordination between the jet pilots, the radar controllers of the airspace surveillance unit in the base operations center, and the civilian and military air traffic control provider Austro Control.
The flight area covers almost the entire territory of Austria, with the exception of densely populated areas around the state capitals and the federal capital, Vienna, which are strictly excluded from the supersonic maneuvers. For air traffic control and geographical reasons, the western states of Tyrol and Vorarlberg will also remain unaffected by the training flights. Since the Eurofighters generate aerodynamic shock waves at supersonic speeds of approximately 1.200 kilometers per hour and above, residents throughout the rest of the country should expect audible sonic booms. The Austrian Armed Forces have announced that they will keep the acceleration phases of the interceptor aircraft as short as possible and continuously monitor sound propagation using sensors to prevent repeated noise pollution in specific regions.
The sound intensity that ultimately reaches the ground depends significantly on meteorological conditions, the current cloud base, and the topographical structure of the terrain overflown. Due to the chosen minimum flight altitude in the upper airspace, the sonic boom is, in most cases, perceived at ground level only as a dull rumble. The Austrian Armed Forces point out that regular subsonic flights for airspace surveillance purposes remain unaffected by these restrictions and can take place at any time in any airspace, regardless of the training schedule.