Poseidon's Rage 2022
Poseidon's Rage 2022 (PR22) is a bilateral military exercise with the participation of military forces of Greece and the USA and is held between 11 and 20 July 2022 at Chania/Ioannis Daskalogiannis air base (Soúda Bay, Isle of Crete).
The exercise is being held for the second year in a row now and sees the participation of the 48th Fighter Wing from RAF Lakenheath (UK), this time a first for the 5th generation F-35A Lightning II.
PR22 is designed to bolster readiness and interoperability between the USAF and Hellenic Air Force (HAF), by demonstrating localised air superiority through the incorporation of both live and inert munitions. The area of exercise will include the Aegean and Mediterranean seas.
The various scenarios include; familiarisation flights, Basic Defense Maneuver flights, combat training between different types of aircraft, Air Combat, Low Altitude Shipping with Virtual Attacks of Surface Targets, Joint Tactical Air Controller – JTAC missions, Offense – Support Naval Forces and live firing at the shooting ranges.
First time in this exercise are:
- Joint operational training development of US 4th and 5th generation Fighter Aircraft in Greece;
- deployment of an entire Fighter Squadron to another base to test the possibility of agile development in one of the most important forward base for the NATO to perform missions towards North Africa, the Middle East, but also towards the Balkans, with the allies constantly highlighting their strategic role as confirmed during the war in Ukraine;
- Execution of training live firing by the F-35A in the US European Command (USEUCOM) area of responsibility.
Participants in PR22 are:
Also participating are various Greek Air Defence Systems units in Crete, Greek Naval Units and JTAC Elements of the Special Warfare Command of the Greek Armed Forces.
Photos by Manos Christakis and USAF