The flight of a CH-47F Chinook helicopter of the Spanish Army with Norwegian 'vikings'

@DefAviation ES 7·10·2024 · 21:54 0

Operation Inherent Resolve, launched in 2014, brings together several countries in an international coalition against ISIS terrorists.

A CQC exercise by Spanish EZAPAC operators with Iraqi ISOF soldiers
The United States Army shows a Spanish CH-47F Chinook helicopter flying in Iraq

Among those countries are Spain and Norway, which currently have military detachments at Al Asad Air Base, in the Ambar Governorate, located in western Iraq. The Spanish contingent is known as Task Force Toro and the Norwegian as Task Force Viking. The Spanish Army has two heavy CH-47F Chinook helicopters from the Transport Helicopter Battalion V (BHELTRA V) deployed there. ), the HT.17-29A (ET-429) and the HT.17-30A (ET-430).

The Spanish contingent was deployed to Iraq in January 2015, initially with 30 soldiers from the Spanish Army's Special Operations Command (MOE). Since then, Spain has also deployed Army helicopters. Since the beginning of this mission, Spanish instructors in Iraq have collaborated in the training of tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers and special operators.

The Norwegian contingent in Iraq was deployed there in May 2015. Currently, Norway has military personnel in Baghdad (providing military and strategic guidance and advice to the Iraqi security forces) and in the aforementioned Al Asad base, where the Norwegians They have a protective force.

Today the Spanish Defense Staff has published a video in which we can see an airborne exercise carried out by a Spanish CH-47F, the HT.17-29A (operated by the Task Force Toro), with Norwegian soldiers from the Viking Task Force. The video description does not indicate the location, but it is Al Asad Air Base:

You can see some screenshots of this video here. Here we see the HT.17-29A helicopter that carried out this airborne exercise:

The gunner on the tail ramp of the Spanish Chinook, just before the Norwegian soldiers disembark. The Spanish CH-47Fs carry three gunners: the one on the ramp and one on each lake.

An image of the great dust raised by the two rotors of the CH-47F at the time of landing.

Norwegian soldiers ready to disembark. They wear protective glasses and tubular scarves to protect themselves from the dust raised by the helicopter.

The Norwegian troops already deployed after their landing from the Spanish CH-47F.