For the next two weeks, there will be practice sessions in Dutch airspace in the afternoon and at the end of the evening with two C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. Due to the corona measures, military exercises of the armed forces are conducted domestically as much as possible.
In terms of size, these aircraft can be compared to the Boeing 737, an aircraft that is used for holiday flights. Among other things, the Hercules is used to practice flying low. “During this exercise, we will fly up to 100 meters above the ground in the designated areas in the afternoon and up to 150 meters in the evening. We do this to practice for humanitarian missions where, for example, we supply the population”, said Colonel Jorrit de Gruijter in the US Radio 1 Journal.
Paratroopers are also trained. “We are going to do this above the Ginkelse Heide, on the Vliehors on Vlieland and also just across the border in Belgium and Germany.”
The training is primarily intended to prepare for a large UN mission to Mali, to which Dutch soldiers will be going from September. “We can train a lot in the Netherlands, but in Mali it is really dark at night, while in the Netherlands there is much more light and buildings. But the most important thing is that we can largely simulate the conditions.”
–
