Greece's air force evacuates dozens of US F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets due to fire and explosions at an ammunition depot near a military base
The Greek Air Force has been forced to evacuate fourth-generation F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters from one of its air bases. The reason was forest fires.
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On Thursday, the fire spread to an ammunition depot near the base in the town of Nea Anchialos. Some residents of the locality were forced to flee the fire across the sea.
The coastal Greek Air Force base is home to fourth-generation F-16 Fighting Falcon 111 Combat Wing fighter jets. Missiles and bombs for the US aircraft are located 6 kilometres north of the runway.
No residents of the town were injured as a result of the munitions detonation. However, some houses in the town had their windows blown out by the blast wave. The population of neighbouring villages was evacuated. Not far from the town, a wine co-operative caught fire.
Later, the Greek Air Force said the military base was not threatened. Meanwhile, dozens of F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets were evacuated and redeployed to the Larissa base.
The 111th Combat Wing has 70 aircraft. The 341st and 347th Squadrons have a total of 38 F-16 Block 50 fighters. The remaining 32 aircraft are F-16 Block 30s, part of the 330th Squadron.
Source: BBC
