Exercise Iniochos, taking place at Andravida Air Base in Greece, is a multinational exercise hosted by the Hellenic Air Force and designed to provide participating air forces with realistic and comprehensive air-combat training. The excercise was named after the historical charioteer, referring to the modern times charioteers in their fast jets.
2025 Overview
Iniochos 2025 was held from 31st March to 11th April 2025. It was the largest edition to date, with 12 participating nations. Hosted and organized by the Hellenic Fighter Weapons School, the exercise ended with a total of 1,300 sorties flown. Each day featured three sorties: morning, afternoon, and night.
Listed below are the fighter aircraft operating out of LGAD / Andravida Air Base.
– French Mirage 2000
– Hellenic Mirage 2000 / Rafale / F-4 / F-16
– Indian SU-30
– Italian Tornado
– Polish F-16
– Qatari F-15
– Slovenian PC-9 – Montenegrin B412 – Israeli G550 AEW
– Spanish F-18
– United Arab Emirates Mirage 2000
– American F-16
A premier was provided by Qatar sending their F-15QA Ababil from Al-Udeid, one of the most advanced fighter jets in the world. Additional aircraft participating in the exercise but not operating out of Andravida included Hellenic Air Force EMB-145H and Israeli Defence Force EL/W-2085 airborne early warning aircraft, aswell as United States Air Force KC-135R.
Objectives
Throughout the exercise, pilots were offered a technically demanding operational environment aimed at replicating the complexity of a modern, multi-domain conflict. Mission objectives included defensive objectives like close air support as well as offensive objectives such as operations against integrated air defence systems, airfield attack, strike coordination and reconnaissance. The main goal was to create a battle environment that was as realistic as possible. Missions executed under both day and night conditions ensured that crews train effectively.
During Iniochos 2025, the HAF used advanced training technologies for a more efficient data interpretation. GPS tracking, Link-16 data exchange, and simulated weapons-employment assessment provided highly precise mission feedback. The result is a training environment that closely replicates the demands of modern conflicts. Over the course of 14 days, the exercise steadily increases in complexity, presenting dynamic, multi-dimensional scenarios. Another innovation during this years iteration was the use of the HAF´s synthetic training squadron. Using tactical F-16 simulators, it adds a virtual layer to the exercise, significantly expanding the training options and powering the overall learning environment.
In a press statement, lieutenant general Dimosthenis Grigoriadis emphasized the advanced level of training wich was given at Iniochos 2025: “I am delighted that we have the environment, airspace, and level of training required to conduct an exercise of this quality.”
Spotter Day
A Spotters Day was held on 7th April between 0730 and 1700l. Over 1,000 aviation enthusiasts were welcomed on base.
Unlike the years before, this year’s Spotters Day only took place on the western side of the runway, so pictures taken before the early noon were backlit. Nevertheless, the spotters had an excellent opportunity to photograph many aircraft types on both taxiway and runway. During the spottersday also a few support aircraft arrived carrying generals arriving to observ the excercise.
