Federal Army: Supersonic training of the Austrian Air Force

From November 4th to 15th, 2024, the Federal Army’s Eurofighter pilots will train interception maneuvers in the supersonic range. Two supersonic flights are planned each day between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

“This training is essential for our Air Force. The terrible war in Ukraine has clearly shown us how important reliable air protection is for a sovereign state. This has to be practiced continuously, including in the supersonic range,” said Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner.

Indispensable for functioning airspace surveillance

Flying at supersonic speeds is an indispensable part of the training and education of our pilots and is essential for functioning Austrian air traffic control. Safe flight operations must also be ensured during operations in the supersonic range and flight safety has the highest priority here too. The pilots train this under real physical stress, which cannot be represented in the simulator. The close and extremely time-critical coordination between military pilots, radar control officers and military and civil air traffic control is also an essential purpose of the training.

Flights take place over almost the entire federal territory with the exception of metropolitan areas and the federal states of Tyrol and Vorarlberg. The flight areas are determined in cooperation with civil air traffic control. In order to keep the noise level as low as possible, we fly at high altitudes.

Measures to reduce the spread of sound

To reduce the propagation of sound near the ground, the Federal Army is taking the following measures:

• The acceleration phases of the Eurofighter are kept as short as possible.
• The sound distribution is continuously documented in order to reduce multiple sound exposure in the same rooms to a minimum.
• The metropolitan areas around the state capitals and the federal capital are left out for supersonic flights. However, subsonic flights can take place over these areas at any time.
• There are no training flights at supersonic speeds between 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. or on weekends and public holidays.
• The flights are completed at an altitude of 12,500 meters in order to minimize any sonic booms that occur on the ground.

Supersonic speed

The supersonic speed starts at around 1,200 km/h. If a Eurofighter approaches this speed, shock waves occur on the aircraft. These shock waves can be perceived on the ground as sonic booms. The volume of the sonic boom depends, among other things, on the altitude, the terrain structure and the weather conditions.