Europe’s aerobatic teams: aircraft, formations and history

Nine red jets in a diamond, a tricolor ribbon over the Adriatic, six red-and-white Tigers in a low pass over an Alpine valley: for many aviation fans, aerobatic teams are the reason to go to an airshow in the first place. Europe has a whole range of military teams, and almost every one has its own signature – from the aircraft type to the formation size to the smoke color. This overview shows you which teams exist, what they fly, where they come from and which ones are facing a turning point.

Europe’s aerobatic teams: the short answer

The best-known aerobatic teams in Europe are the Red Arrows (United Kingdom, BAE Hawk), the Frecce Tricolori (Italy, Aermacchi MB-339), the Patrouille de France (France, Alpha Jet) and the Patrouille Suisse (Switzerland, F-5E Tiger II). Add to that smaller teams with turboprop trainers, such as the Swiss PC-7 Team, the Polish Orlik Team or the Croatian Wings of Storm, as well as jet teams like Finland’s Midnight Hawks and the Turkish Stars. Germany and Austria have no military aerobatic team of their own.

Most teams do not fly combat jets but school and training aircraft. There are practical reasons for that: trainers are agile, relatively cheap to operate, can be fitted with smoke systems and are available in large numbers in many air forces anyway. But that is exactly what makes the teams vulnerable – when the trainer is retired, the whole team often wobbles.

The big jet teams profiled

Red Arrows (United Kingdom)

The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team was formed at the end of 1964 and gave its first public display in May 1965 – in the first season alone, 65 appearances followed in Britain and on the Continent. Until 1979 the Red Arrows flew the small Folland Gnat, and since the 1980 season the BAE Systems Hawk. Nine Hawks make up the display, and a tenth aircraft comes along as a spare.

The team has moved several times. RAF Scampton was its home for a long time, and in October 2022 it moved to RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire. Hallmarks are the bright red Hawks, the red-white-and-blue smoke and the famous Diamond Nine formation. According to current planning, the Hawk T1 is to remain in service until the end of the 2029 season – a successor for training and the team is part of British procurement planning, but the details are open. More on the history is in the profile of the Red Arrows.

Frecce Tricolori (Italy)

The Pattuglia Acrobatica Nazionale, PAN for short, was founded on March 1, 1961, as the 313th Gruppo Addestramento Acrobatico at Rivolto airfield near Udine. It is considered the largest aerobatic team in the world: usually nine aircraft in tight formation plus a soloist fly, and with the training leader it makes eleven. Since 1982 the team has used the Aermacchi MB-339 in the PAN version.

Typical of the Frecce are the green-white-red smoke, the “Bomba,” in which the formation breaks apart in all directions at the top of a loop, and the five-kilometer-long tricolor ribbon at the end of many displays. The long-planned switch to the M-345 was dropped in 2024: in September 2024 the Italian Air Force presented the Leonardo M-346 as the new aircraft of the PAN. Until further notice the Frecce fly the MB-339, and the changeover is expected around 2028 according to current information. Details are in the profile of the Frecce Tricolori.

Patrouille de France (France)

The roots of the French team go back to 1931, when a patrol first performed in Étampes. Officially the team has carried the name Patrouille de France since 1953. Since then it has gone through five generations of aircraft: the F-84G Thunderjet, Dassault Ouragan, Mystère IV, Fouga Magister and, since 1981, the Alpha Jet. Today eight Alpha Jets fly the display, based at Base aérienne 701 in Salon-de-Provence.

The aircraft wear a blue-white-red color scheme that covers the fuselage over a large area. A fixed date in the calendar is the flypast at the Défilé on July 14 in Paris. Interesting for spotters: with the Alpha Jet the team flies a German-French type that has long been retired from the Luftwaffe. More in the article on the Patrouille de France.

Patrouille Suisse (Switzerland)

The Patrouille Suisse has existed since August 22, 1964. Until 1994 it flew the Hawker Hunter, and since 1995 the Northrop F-5E Tiger II – six supersonic-capable combat aircraft in red and white that are in regular service with the Swiss Air Force. The home base is the military airfield at Emmen.

The team’s future has been debated for over ten years. Several announced endings have been postponed, but as things stand the Tigers will be retired at the end of 2027. For cost reasons, parliament decided to disband the Patrouille Suisse at the same time. Appearances abroad have already become rarer. If you still want to see the Tigers in formation, you should plan on the 2027 season. The whole story is told in the article Patrouille Suisse.

Turboprop teams and smaller teams

Not every team needs jets. Turboprop teams in particular often show especially tight, calm maneuvers, because the aircraft are slower and can also perform at smaller airfields.

• PC-7 Team (Switzerland): Nine Pilatus PC-7s of the Swiss Air Force. The first formation flew in 1987, and the official founding year is 1989 for the 75th anniversary of the air force. The pilots fly the F/A-18 Hornet full-time, and the team is a side duty for them. Unlike the Patrouille Suisse, the PC-7 Team is not affected by the disbandment.
• Orlik Team (Poland): Founded in the late 1990s at the Polish Air Force Academy, the team has flown seven PZL-130 Orlik turboprop trainers since 2011.
• Wings of Storm (Croatia): The Croatian Air Force team flies six Pilatus PC-9Ms and is based at Zemunik airfield near Zadar. It had its first public appearance as a team in the mid-2000s.

More jet teams: from Finland to Turkey

• Midnight Hawks (Finland): Four BAE Hawks of the Finnish Air Force, flown by flight instructors of the Air Force Academy. The team first performed under this name in 1997, and its base is Tikkakoski near Jyväskylä. Predecessors flew Fouga Magisters, among others.
• Turkish Stars (Turkey): Turkey’s national aerobatic team was established in 1992 and flies Canadair-built NF-5As and NF-5Bs out of Konya. Like the Patrouille Suisse, it is one of the few teams with supersonic aircraft. The Turkish Hürjet trainer is considered the team’s successor.
• SoloTürk and other solo displays: Besides formation teams, many air forces perform solo displays, for example with the F-16 or the Eurofighter. These are not teams in the strict sense, but at airshows they are often the loudest items on the program.

Historic and paused teams

Europe’s aerobatic scene is in motion. Two examples show how closely teams are tied to their aircraft:

• Patrulla Águila (Spain): The team from San Javier on the Mar Menor flew the CASA C-101 Aviojet from 1985, known for its red-and-yellow smoke and formation landings. On June 15, 2025, it flew its last flight for its 40th anniversary. Because the C-101 is being replaced after decades in training, the team has been deactivated indefinitely since then – an aircraft for a comeback has not been decided.
• Team 60 (Sweden): The Swedish Air Force team has flown the Saab 105, internally called SK 60, since 1974 and has carried its name since 1976. The type is over 50 years old – how long the team keeps flying it depends on the retirement plans.

The teams compared

Team	Country	Aircraft	Formation	Base	Status Oct. 2026
Red Arrows	United Kingdom	BAE Hawk T1	9 (+1 spare)	RAF Waddington	active
Frecce Tricolori	Italy	Aermacchi MB-339 PAN	9 + soloist	Rivolto	active, switching to M-346
Patrouille de France	France	Alpha Jet	8	Salon-de-Provence	active
Patrouille Suisse	Switzerland	F-5E Tiger II	6	Emmen	disbandment decided for end of 2027
PC-7 Team	Switzerland	Pilatus PC-7	9	–	active
Midnight Hawks	Finland	BAE Hawk	4	Tikkakoski	active
Turkish Stars	Turkey	NF-5A/B	up to 8	Konya	active
Orlik Team	Poland	PZL-130 Orlik	7	–	active
Wings of Storm	Croatia	Pilatus PC-9M	6	Zemunik	active
Patrulla Águila	Spain	CASA C-101	7	San Javier	deactivated since 2025

The table shows the regular setup. Depending on the season, maintenance situation or occasion, teams also fly with fewer aircraft.

How to recognize the teams in the sky

At the fence you often have only seconds to identify a team – especially for flypasts that are not announced. Three features help you:

1. Formation size: Nine jets in a diamond point to the Red Arrows, ten with a detached soloist to the Frecce. Six combat jets suggest the Patrouille Suisse, four Hawks the Midnight Hawks.
2. Smoke colors: Green-white-red is clearly Italy. Blue-white-red is trailed by both the French and the British – then the paint scheme decides: completely red for the Red Arrows, blue with white-red accents for the Patrouille de France.
3. Silhouette: The Hawk has an arched back and air intakes on the sides of the fuselage, the Alpha Jet two engines and high-set shoulder wings, the MB-339 a slim fuselage with wingtip tanks. You recognize the F-5 by its pointed nose and short, thin wings.

If you are interested in military aircraft in general beyond the teams, the guide Tracking military aircraft online helps with planning.

Where and when you can see the teams

The display season runs roughly from spring to fall. Each team publishes its annual program on the websites of the respective air force – there you will also find cancellations and short-notice changes. The best chances of seeing several teams in one weekend are large military airshows such as the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford or AIRPOWER in Zeltweg. A broader overview of the season is given by the article Airshows in Europe for plane spotters.

Besides the shows, there are fixed occasions with flypasts: the Patrouille de France on July 14 in Paris, the Frecce Tricolori on Italy’s national holiday on June 2 in Rome, the Red Arrows at the British monarch’s birthday parade in London. In Germany, foreign teams occasionally appear at ILA Berlin, and the Bundeswehr open day (Tag der Bundeswehr) also shows military aircraft up close. The fact that there are so few large military air days in Germany has to do with history: in the Ramstein air show disaster on August 28, 1988, three Frecce Tricolori aircraft collided, and 70 people died.

Spotter tips for team days

• Use the arrival day: Teams usually arrive one to two days before the show, often in formation. At the arrival airfield you get calm landings and taxiing shots without crowds.
• Check transit flights: On the way to displays, teams make fuel stops. If you know where the team is performing, you can estimate the route there.
• Plan the light in advance: Displays have a fixed show line. Whether you have the sun at your back there depends on the side where the audience stands. Tips on exposure and focal length are in the guide Photographing airshows, and what belongs in your bag is shown in the Airshow day checklist.
• Know the rules at military airfields: Special requirements apply to practice flights at home bases. What is allowed is explained in Photographing military airfields.

Conclusion

Europe’s aerobatic teams are as different as their countries: the Red Arrows with their Diamond Nine, the Frecce Tricolori as the largest team with its tricolor ribbon, the Patrouille de France with a tradition almost a hundred years old and the Patrouille Suisse with real combat jets. At the same time, many teams are facing a generational change – some get new aircraft, others disappear. For spotters that means every season could be the last chance for a particular combination of team and type.