American F16 fighter jet making strange manoeuvres over Belgium

Hi,

This morning, I walked out on my terras, cup of coffee in one hand, smoke in the other. And was greeted by this:



I live in one of the medium/large cities in Belgium, and had the exact same angle of view as you see in the pic, so I instantly recognised it when I read an article about it tonight. This was seen in several areas over Belgium this morning, covering about a third of the country.

I saw it just as it was starting the bottom of the spiral, and it was moving much faster than a commercial jet, at least twice that speed as it shot off in that straight line. So I thought it was one of those corporate jets with some CEO in it showing off his toy to his guests… lol

The article states that it was first reported as “calibration tests” by Belgocontrol (civil air navigation service). Then they that “it wasn’t one of ours, it was an American F16 that was in the country for a repair at a company called SABCA in the city of Charleroi.” The department of defence confirmed this and said “After such a repair, everything needs to be tested again. The F16 flew tests at 10.000 ft and also penetrated the sound barrier.”

I haven’t seen a fighter jet in the Belgian skies for many years. I got a bad feeling about this. Is this a subtle sign of things seriously heating up, or have I been on ATS too much? I also read several weeks ago that the US reopened some sort of military logistics facility here in Belgium that had been shut down years ago. I should also add that there is an airforce base in our country where US nuclear weapons have been stored since the sixties. I was there once for a commercial photography job and basically was telling this pilot where to park his F16 for the right angle of view to fit the layout of the advertisement. lol

So, ATS friends, should I believe the repair job and testing story, or should I head for the bunker?

You know.. with our capital in lock down last week and all. And since we moved from the highest threat level 4 to level 3, there are still around 1000 military people guarding the streets of little Belgium.

Anybody have any ideas about what the strategic importance of Belgium might be to the US? I’m not very educated on military strategy matters.

Thanks!

soulwaxer

a reply to: soulwaxer

One fighter should not set off the spidey senses...I mean its one. And why not believe the story...I would be more concerned if they said "routine training mission". Certainly not a prelude to war.

Can you remeber about 5 years ago.
Britain and france signd a pack to share nuclear secrets.

I may be wrong though.

a reply to: DJMSN

Thanks, but I just find it strange that they have their jet repaired in Belgium, of all places. Don't they have better equipped bases in countries like Germany? It's not that I'm panicking.. just keeping an eye on all things military with what is happening in Syria.

soulwaxer

I don't recall it, but that seems quite plausible.

soulwaxer

originally posted by: Ismynameimportant
Can you remeber about 5 years ago.
Britain and france signd a pack to share nuclear secrets.

I may be wrong though.

did they sine a pack?

Oh yeah maybe they did.

a reply to: soulwaxer

look here on the companies home page, isn't that a F-16, also shows a F-16 wing being repaired.
now i don't know for sure about foreign companies , but i know some U.S. aircraft get sent out for repair at companies that are selected by the pentagon.

SABCA- Products & Capabilities-Maintenance & Upgrades

The story is very believable. If the Aircraft is in need of repair one would imagine it would go to the closest repair shot. So unless there is some details as to why it should not have been there then maybe we have something. Looks like a simple maneuver to test G forces and such. I'll see for more details but nothing strange here.

Post Maintenance Check Flight. No big deal. It's when you see 10 or 15 of them in a group flying a straight line that you start to worry.

a reply to: soulwaxer

Maintenance contracts for major maintenance are awarded through bidding. The company with the lowest bid gets the contract, even if there are better facilities available somewhere else. They bid on the contract, and beat out the other bidders.

Are you sure it wasn't a US built F-16 though, instead of a US F-16? Belgium has been upgrading their remaining F-16s.

Maybe there was a bee in the cok pit and he was trying to swat it away.

a reply to: Zerodoublehero

Stranger things than that have happened in aircraft.

Not even remotely out of the realm of possibility...though it's coming on to winter there.

a reply to: soulwaxer

If it broke while over Belgium and the pilot landed it there then I for one would like for it to be repaired before I flew any further. I believe we as in NATO have bases in Belgium. Are they no longer there ? I know there have been a lot of changes so maybe they are now closed.

a reply to: DJMSN

If it was an American aircraft, Depot level checks for European units is done in Europe. Otherwise they have to get a tanker and fly several aircraft back to the US every time an aircraft required PDM or had repairs that required more than they could do at the Squadron level.

Just messin with the Natives, part of the terror playbook ran in the states after 911.

Combat aircraft were making all kind of noise overhead the days following, and I live on the west coast.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: soulwaxer

Maintenance contracts for major maintenance are awarded through bidding. The company with the lowest bid gets the contract, even if there are better facilities available somewhere else. They bid on the contract, and beat out the other bidders.

Are you sure it wasn't a US built F-16 though, instead of a US F-16? Belgium has been upgrading their remaining F-16s.

Thanks for your reply, Zaphod. I was hoping you would chime in.

The article states that "It wasn't one of ours. It was an American F16."

I just find it a bit strange that foreign fighter jets do their post maintenance check flights over the most populated area's of the country. The south of Belgium, which is much less populated, was avoided according to a map of sightings that accompanied the article.

As a side note, there is a Belgian military base in Kleine Brogel where US nukes are stored. There were many demonstrations against this during the sixties and seventies.

My (uninformed) concern is mainly about how much military presence the US is allowed in my country, but I assume that this kind of info is not to be known by the public.

soulwaxer

I saw it yesterday morning over Herentals Suprised to find it posted here

Yeah, PMCF flights are typically not performed over populated areas. After Depot level maintenance, Post MX test flights test the engine, the flight controls, etc.

I'm pretty sure there is a sizeable military engine presence (F-16 now, soon F-35) and I believe Belgium was hoping to get an F-35 Depot to boost their economy. I would expect more of this.

a reply to: soulwaxer

It depends on what tests were being done. The initial FCF is done over open areas where there aren't many people, as it includes an engine shutdown and restart. Different versions of the F-16 do different missions, and have different equipment installed.

If they were testing the mission equipment it can require different things to test it. They could have been calibrating radar receivers, or IFF receivers by reading other transponders from aircraft, etc.