Forever Wars: Cold War era wargame ‘Tiger Meet’ continues in 2023!

02 November 2023 (09:21-UTC-07 Tango 06) 11 Aban 1402/18 Rabi ‘ath-Thani 1445/19 Gui-Hai 4721/02 ноябрь 2023 года

Cold War: Approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union).

According to the official Tiger Meet organization, the origin of the wargame was a result of pilots from one North Atlantic Treaty Organization country (United Kingdom) boasting that they were better than pilots from another NATO country (United States). The Tiger Meet name was influenced by the name of a U.S. Air Force squadron based on the United Kingdom. The first Tiger Meet competition took place in the early 1960s.

This year’s NATO-Tiger Meet took place over Gioia del Colle Air Base in southern Italy.

Swedish built SAAB JAS 39 Gripen of the Czech Republic (Czechia) taxis on Gioia del Colle Air Base, 10OCT2023.

NATO video showing Tiger Meet Rafales, operated by France, 10OCT2023:

NATO video showing Tiger Meet Tornadoes and Typhoons, operated by Austria, Germany and Italy, 10OCT2023:

NATO video showing Tiger Meet F-16 Falcons, operated by Belgium, Greece, Poland and Turkey, 10OCT2023:

Tiger Meet-2015. This NATO photo shows even the ‘neutral’ Swiss take part in the wargame. Besides the Swiss F/A-18 Hornet, you can see Polish and Turkish F-16 Falcons, a French Rafale, and a NATO-AWACS.

Luftwaffe ‘Arctic Tiger’ Tornado, Tiger Meet-June 2013. NATO photo by Ulrich ‘Fürst’ Metternich.

Tiger Meet-2013 F-16 Falcons operated by Netherlands, Norway and Turkey. NATO photo by Ulrich ‘Fürst’ Metternich.

A Colorado Air National Guard F-16C Falcon, taking part in the Tiger Meet of the Americas wargame/competition over Alberta, Canada, refueling from a New Jersey Air National Guard KC-135E. Photo by Senior Master Sergeant John P. Rohrer, September 2003, apparently this was the first Tiger Meet held in Canada.

In 2001, a Tiger Meet of the Americas competition was launched, officially it is not linked to what became the NATO Tiger Meets in Europe.

Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado, the first Tiger Meet of the Americas, from bottom to top; Luftwaffe Tornado, F-16s from Arizona, Colorado, South Carolina and Vermont, a ‘dolled-up’ Canadian CF-188 (F/A-18), and finally a F-15E Strike Eagle from Idaho. USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Greg L. Davis, 12AUG2001.

In the beginning, of the European Tiger Meet competitions/wargames, there were no fancy Tiger paint jobs.

Italian F-104G Starfighter, on Kleine Brogel Air Base, Belgium, during the July 1970 tiger Meet. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sergeant H.D. Robinson.

Italian made FIAT G-91 operated by West Germany during the July 1970 Tiger Meet on Kleine Brogel Air Base, Belgium. USAF photo by Master Sergeant H.D. Robinson.

USAF F-100 Super Saber gets maintenance during the July 1970 Tiger Meet on Kleine Brogel Air Base, Belgium. USAF photo by Master Sergeant H.D. Robinson.

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