Ramstein Flag 25

The second edition of the largest NATO air exercise was held at Leeuwarden air base, The Netherlands from 31st March to 11th April 2025. Myself and wm._.2photography travelled to The Netherlands to photograph the second and final week of the exercise.

Two sorties were flown each day, with the first launching at ~1600h and the second at ~2000h. This gave a good lighting setup for daylight launches, golden hour recoveries, and night ops.

Monday

Leeuwarden

On Monday we did first launch and recovery, and second launch, not staying for second recovery. This was the only night flying we photographed this week.

On all days where the sun was out, heat haze at the spotters mound presented a real challenge, especially on aircraft coming round from the far (North) side of the base.

Tuesday

Leeuwarden

Today, I was invited on base as part of the media day, attending a few talks from NATO officials detailing plans for the exercise and later observing the first launch from halfway down the runway.

After the media day, I returned back to the Marsum end to capture the return of the first wave, in beautiful golden light.

Wednesday

Leeuwarden

This was the cloudiest day of the week, but made from a nice contrast to the heat haze encountered previously. The highlight for me today was the MQ-9 from the Dutch Air Force. I also experimented taking a step back from the action to capture the surrounding environment, with the spotters in the foreground.

Thursday

Eindhoven

We decided to travel the length of the country to photograph the refuelling assets operating out of Eindhoven. Both a Dutch MRTT and a Canadian Polaris departed, as well as Dutch and German C-130's.

We were also treated to a ex-Dutch F-16 on a test flight, performing 2 touch-and-go's, before being donated to Ukraine.

Friday

Departures day

This was the only day where the aircraft departed towards the Marsum spotters mound, which presented a brilliant opportunity for dramatic shots, especially since it was departures day where some aircraft performed wing waves, topside passes and quick climbs. The French and Hellenic Air Forces also performed flypasts in their Rafales and F-16s respectively.

Museum visits

In addition to the exercise, we also visited two of the major aviation museums in The Netherlands - Aviodrome and Nationaal Militair Museum.

Aviodrome

The first museum on our agenda was the Aviodrome. It was very similar in style to one of the aeroparks in the UK. The restoration hangar was also open where we were able to see a Grumman US-2N Tracker among other aircraft.

Nationaal Militair Museum

Probably one of the best museums I have been to. Sadly we weren't able to spend much time here, but we did managed to race round all the amazing airborne and ground based assets.

The guide told us that this museum took inspiration from Duxford and the Bovington Tank Museum. I liked that this museum tried to give each exhibit the space it deserved, allowing visitors to walk round each vehicle. Many of the ground assets had hatches open so you could see inside.

There were also a couple of outside aircraft, with plenty of space around them making excellent photographs - something that cannot be said for most museums.

Wrecks & Relics

In addition to the exercise and the museums, we also took the opportunity to explore some abandoned aircraft around The Netherlands.

Conclusion

Overall, our week in The Netherlands was an excellent one. We ticked off countless serials of both active European air forces and international relics alike, while getting some incredible photos in the process. We met many great people at the fence and would like to thank everyone who we met for being so welcoming.