NATO Launches Tiger Meet Air Exercise in Greece

Bosphorus News Defence Desk

A multinational air exercise involving more than 50 fighter aircraft and helicopters daily began on May 4 at Araxos Air Base in southern Greece, with missions scheduled across the entire Athens FIR at a time of increased military activity in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean.

The Hellenic Air Force said "NATO Tiger Meet 2026" will run until May 14 at the 116th Combat Wing and is designed to provide high-quality operational training under the motto "Train as you Fight."

The drill covers defensive and offensive counter-air operations, air interdiction, dynamic targeting, time-sensitive targeting, suppression and destruction of enemy air defences, APCLO, APCMO, electronic warfare and jamming missions.

Participating countries include Greece, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, with Austria, France, the United Kingdom, India and the Netherlands attending as observers, alongside forces from the Hellenic Navy and Greece's Special Warfare Command. Türkiye is not listed among participating or observer nations.

The exercise coincides with a separate Greek naval drill planned near Lemnos and Samothrace on May 5, which prompted a formal Turkish protest over the demilitarised status of the eastern Aegean islands.

The two activities are separate, but the calendar matters. Athens is opening a major air exercise across the Athens FIR while preparing a naval activity in an area where Türkiye has already objected on legal grounds.

That overlap gives the Araxos drill a wider regional meaning. It places Greek air activity, Aegean maritime disputes and NATO's southern flank posture inside the same week, even if they remain separate military files.