Greece's Hellenic Air Force F-16s Combat Train Over Crete

When Greece's Hellenic Air Force smashes the sound barrier in combat training in the skies over the island of Crete, it is doing so with F-16 fighters. For many new EU expat residents in Crete they may not be prepared for such an event.

Now it so happens that Greece is in the final stage of taking delivery of 30 of the latest F-16 fighters from the United States.

Th F-16 pilots fly in a single pair, or sometimes as a trio. The jets zap across the sky at near supersonic speed which creates a deafening boom that rocochets around the Cretan mountain tops and valleys below.

Why is the F-16 pilot training so intense?

Every Greek knows that the exercises are in preparation for possible encounters of a closer kind with Greece's neighbouring country to the east - Turkey. The video below purports to show the pilots' intentions and how they do it when they "lock on" to supposedly Turkish planes. Pride is everything in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Greek Island of Crete is the southeastern flank of outer protection for NATO that Greece guards with firm control - albeit with satellite technology and from the air with its fleet of F-16s.

Living in Crete is never boring for the growing number of expat residents. Let us say that perhaps they are surprised and even a little shaken when they encounter the Hellenic Air Force's F-16's in training for the first time.