General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon

Fighter pilots stand next to a F-16 fighter aircraft during the joint Air Forces drill "Blue Flag" at the Ovda Air Force Base in the Negev Desert, southern Israel, on Monday (picture issued 12 November 2019).

In a sign of its growing military presence in the Eastern Mediterranean, Greece last week launched the Medusa 9 joint military exercise with Egypt south of Crete and the Peloponnese, while Greek fighter jets prepare to take part in the multinational Blue Flag drill which begins on Sunday in the Uvda region of southern Israel.

A pair of Greek F-16 fighter jets on Friday escorted a US B-52 bomber operating in Syria as they flew over Cyprus, Kathimerini understands.
The three aircraft flew within the Nicosia FIR before parting ways, as the B-52 continued its track eastbound toward Syria. The Greek fighter jets returned to base on Souda Bay in Crete.

Turkish fighter jets entered the Athens Flight Information Region on Wednesday afternoon, flying above the islet of Ro, off the Dodecanese island of Kastellorizo, without first submitting a flight plan.

In an indication of Greece's commitment to support Cyprus, three Greek F-16 jets flew over the Eastern Mediterranean island on Thursday during a joint training exercise with the Cypriot National Guard dubbed Steel Arrow.

It came on the heels of a smaller exercise involving Cypriot forces and a French frigate earlier in the week.

Two Turkish F-16 fighter jets entered the Athens Flight Information (FIR) region on Thursday, flying at 28,000 feet above the Aegean islands of Oinousses and Panaghia.

According to the National Defense General Staff, the unauthorized overflights took place shortly before 10.30 a.m. and the Turkish were intercepted and chased off, according to the international rules of engagement.

Turkish fighter jets on Friday violated Greek national airspace in the northeastern Aegean 13 times, Greek defense sources said.
The four Turkish F-16s also entered the Athens Flight Information Region four times before first submitting a flight plan.

Turkish F-16s on Sept. 29 shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) near the Syrian border after it violated Turkish airspace multiple times, said Turkey's Defense Ministry.       

A MiG-29 fighter jet crashed during a training flight in Slovakia. The pilot was able to catapult and survive, according to the Department of Defense. The incident happened in the western part of the country.

Turkish aircraft violated Greek airspace in the northeastern, central and southeastern Aegean 30 times on Friday, according to Greek defense sources.
The Turkish aircraft - two F-16s and two CN235s - also violated the Athens Flight Information Region three times, the sources said.