On Wednesday morning three Turkish Air Force F-4E Phantom II aircraft landed at Istrana Air Base, near Treviso, ahead of their participation in the NATO exercise Poggio Dart 2025.
The deployed aircraft have been identified as 77-0303 (the well-known special-colored airframe), 73-1052 and 73-1055.
Their arrival in Italy was supported yesterday morning by an A400M Atlas (reg. 21-0118) operating as TUAF243. After crossing Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia, the Turkish formation continued northwest towards northeastern Italy, where all aircraft recovered at Istrana, home of the Italian Air Force’s 51st Wing.
Poggio Dart 2025 will take place from 1 to 4 December and will involve several NATO air assets operating in close air support and JTAC environments. The presence of Turkish Phantoms – among the very last operational examples of this iconic Cold War aircraft within NATO – adds particular interest to this year’s edition.
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