The Quest for Relevant Air Power

238 │ ROYAL NETHERLANDS Air Force
Cooperation on an Operational Level. Against the backdrop
of Operation Allied Force, General Horner highlighted that the
Dutch had been easy to integrate into an American-led multinational
force with regard to equipment as well as training. 77 Operational
ties with the USAF have been strong in the post–Cold
War era. For instance, American exchange pilots were embedded
into RNLAF F-16 detachments during Enduring Freedom. In the
course of Operation Iraqi Freedom, RNLAF Patriot units stationed
in Turkey were in a position to receive American intelligence
on potential missile launches. 78 Hence, a high degree of mutual
trust and understanding has indeed existed between the
USAF and the RNLAF. Moreover, the RNLAF has only participated
in air campaigns with the United States acting as lead nation,
which is expected to remain the case. 79
Due to its embedding into NATO, the RNLAF has in general
acquired great experience in operating with allied air forces. It has
been participating in the most demanding integrated exercises,
such as Red Flag in the United States and Maple Flag in Canada.
Furthermore, 323 TACTESS (Tactical Training, Evaluation, and
Standardisation Squadron), the Dutch “Top Gun” squadron, organises
its own annual integrated exercise. Up to eight nations
regularly participate in exercise Frisian Flag over the Netherlands
and the North Sea. 80 Analogous to its flying counterparts, the
RNLAF Missile Group has been organising TBMD defence exercises
in the Joint Project Optic Windmill series since 1996. 81
Throughout the 1990s, the RNLAF also conducted low-level flying
exercises in Goose Bay, Canada. Yet, in the aftermath of Allied
Force, low-level flying diminished in importance, and it was decided
to terminate the low-flying training programme in Canada.
82 The definite field test for combined operations was the succession
of air campaigns over the former Yugoslavia. 83
How Has the Royal Netherlands Air Force
Responded to the Challenges of Real Operations?
In the post–Cold War era, the Netherlands has been using its
armed forces as an instrument for intervention abroad. Nowadays,
the Netherlands armed forces are almost exclusively geared