The international edition of Anatolian Eagle returned to Konya, Türkiye in 2025 with over 70 aircraft participating in two weeks of intense flying. Held at the Anatolian Eagle Training Center, the exercise ran from the 23rd of June to 4th of July with participation from Azerbaijan, Hungary, Jordan, NATO, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United States alongside their Turkish hosts.
Since it’s inception in 2001, Anatolian Eagle has included 16 partner nations totalling 45,628 hours flown across 27,073 sorties. Anatolian Eagle. Typically held several times a year, Anatolian Eagle hosts both domestic and international-level exercises utilising the dedicated Anatolian Eagle Training Center facilities. Other exercises of a similar level of training and operational tempo include Maple Flag and Red Flag, held in Canada and the United States respectively.
This year’s edition introduced three new training scenarios in response to changing global threats:
- Crisis Phase Implementation
Focusing on the preservation of peace, pilots “trained in preventive air operation planning, rules of engagement, and deterrence techniques aimed at preventing a surprise attack before conflict erupts.” - Cruise Missile Interception Training
Interception and elimination operations in simulated mass cruise missile attacks with modern conflicts highlighting the sustained use of cruise missiles. - Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Strike missions were operated with domestically produced UAVs – Akinci, Anka-S and Anka-3. Manned fighter aircraft provided escorts for these strike missions.
This year also saw the use of combat simulators with mission profiles operated in a virtual environment with a 90% match betwen real world and simulated missions.
Turkish Air Force
Fast jets:
F-16 – 113 Filo, 132 Filo, 151 Filo, 152 Filo, 161 Filo, 162 Filo, 191 Filo
Support aircraft:
- E-7T – 131 Filo
- KC-135 – 101 Filo
- CN-235 – 135 Filo
- Akinci – 311 Filo
- Anka-S – 311 Filo
- Anka-3 – Operated by TAI
- Aksungur – Operated by TAI
Foreign Participants
- Azerbaijani Air Forces – Sukhoi Su-25
- Hungarian Air Force – Saab JAS-39C/D
- Qatar Emiri Air Force – Eurofighter Typhoon
- Royal Jordanian Air Force – General Dynamics F-16AM/BM
- Royal Saudi Air Force – Boeing F-15SA
- United States Air Force – General Dynamics F-16C/D
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization – Boeing E-3A
The Aviation Studio would like to express their thanks to the Turkish Air Force Public Affairs Office for their exceptional hosting of us at Anatolian Eagle 2025.
