The Austrian Armed Forces are conducting supersonic training from October 24 to November 4, 2022. Among other things, the Eurofighter pilots practice interception manoeuvres. Two training flights are planned each day.
These are carried out between 8:00 a.m. and 16:00 p.m. over the federal territory. Austria's Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner (ÖVP) explains: "This training is indispensable for our air force. Especially in times when war is being waged in Europe, it is important to have effective air surveillance. To do this, flying in supersonic speed and corresponding scenarios for airspace surveillance must also be practiced.”
Flying with supersonic is an indispensable part of the training and education of the pilots and is essential for a functioning Austrian air surveillance. Of course, safe flight operations must also be guaranteed for operations in the supersonic range, and flight safety also has top priority here. The pilots practice this under real physical stress, which cannot be represented in the simulator. The close and extremely time-critical coordination between military pilots, radar controllers and military and civil air traffic control is also an essential purpose of the training.
Almost the entire federal territory is flown with the exception of metropolitan areas 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, it is flown at great heights.