115 Combat Wing The 115 Combat Wing is located on the Northwest part of the island of Crete, in the middle of the Akrotiri peninsula, which forms with its south coast the big natural harbour of Souda. 340 Squadron The 340 Sqn is an independent operational unit which consists of two combat flights with F-16 Blk 52+ aircrtaft. It comes under the 115 Combat Wing both organizationally and operationally and it is based in Souda airport. On April 18th 1953, the 340 Sqn was formed at 112CW airport, with F-84G aircraft. In September, the squadron moved to 111CW at Volos, where the existing aircraft were replaced by the F-84Fs. On February 4 1960, the 340 FB Sqn successfully in two large scale exercises. In May the REGEX 1 exercise and in September the FLASH BACK exercise. Next year, on March 14 1961, the Squadron took part successfully in the two-day REGEX-61 exercise. From July 9th 1962, till July 14th, a six F-84F aircraft flight of 340 FB Sqn with 7 pilots and 11 technicians moved at BALIKESIR, Turkey, during a flight exchange between Greece, Italy and Turkey. On July 24 a 4 F-84F aircraft flight of 340 FB Sqn accomplished a navigation training flight and landed in RIMINI Italy. In the same year, the Squadron was successfully evaluated by SIXATAF with exceptional performance. In July 1964, after a HAFGS mandate, the 340 FB Sqn was renamed to 338 FB Sqn and the 335 Strike Sqn, which was moved during June to 115CW from 114CW, to 340 Strike Squadron. In 1965, the 340 Strike Sqn, was successfully evaluated by the 28th Hellenic Tactical Air Force (28 HTAF), and classified as class A, achieving exceptional performance in LARS firing and high standards of knowledge in technical issues. In October 1966, the 340Sqn changes its role to Fighter Bomber Sqn with 115 CW as permanent base. In 1967, the Squadron was successfully evaluated by NATO and was classified as class A. In March 1970, a 340 Sqn aircraft Flight moved for 3 days to the GIOIA DEL COLLE airport in Italy, in the frame of SOUTHERN FLAG exercises. In the same year, in August, 4 Squadrons F-84F aircraft moved to GHEDI airport in Italy for training flights. In 1974, the 340 Sqn entered its inventory the F-84F aircraft from 338 and 339 FB Sqn, which were developed in short time. The Squadrons aircraft at the time came up to 75. In August 1975 the reception of 340 Squadrons new type aircraft started, the A/TA-7H Corsair II, which were light bomber aircraft. The Squadrons old type aircraft F-84F, the personnel and the means were delivered to 345 FB Sqn. From June 29th 1979 to July 6th, a A-7H Flight of the 340 Sqn moved to HAHN airport, West Germany, during a NATO Flight Exchange. From June 7 to 14 1983, four (4) Squadron aircraft visited the 13th Gruppo Brindisi in Italy. In February 1987 a pair of aircraft from the 340 Sqn moved to GRAZZANIZE airport in Italy, during a squadron crew exchange. In April, two squadrons aircraft also moved to GRAZZANIZE airport, Italy. In 1990 the Squadron achieved a zero accident rate, and was awarded with the flight safety prize. In late July 1992, half of the A/TA-7H aircraft from the 347 FB Sqn of 110CW were added to 340 Squadrons inventory. On May 3rd 1995, 1 TA-7H and 3 A-7H of 340Sqn redeployed to Majorca to participate in the DESTINED GLORY 95 exercise. On October 4 1997, the Squadron participated in the DYNAMIC MIX NATO exercise with great success. On January 30 2001, the operation of 340 Sqn was suspended. The 340 Sqn aircraft and part of the personnel were incorporated under the 345 Bomber Sqn. On March 3rd 2003, the 340 Fighter Bomber Squadron was reformed with F-16 Block 52+ aircraft at the 115 CW, from where it operates till today. Throughout its history, the 340Sqn has won many commendations and has been awarded with many prizes both among the Hellenic Fighter Squadrons and among the NATO allied member countries. The emblem of the 340 Fighter Bomber Squadron is the fox, and as a callsign the word FOX is used since 1960. The Hellenic Air Force is the first Air Force in the world to operate this advanced F-16 type. This aircraft is the improved version of the BLOCK 50 with advanced electronics and upgraded engine. The Hellenic Air Force's BLOCK 52+ belong to 337, 340 and 343 Squadrons with call signs "Ghost", "Fox" and "Star" respectively. 337 SQ is based in Larissa Air Force Base (110 Combat Wing) and the other two in Souda Crew: 1 (C model), 2 (D model) Engine: 1 Pratt & Whitney F100-PW 229, 29,100 lbs thrust Wing Span: 9.45 m Length: 14.52 m Maximum Speed: 2,173 km/h Service Ceiling: 15,240m or 49,000 ft The Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole jet fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics This video was taken by a DVD provided by the 'Remove Before Flight' magazine. I do not own this footage

• published: 01 Aug 2011
• views: 148766