In his first contact with the Air Force, the President of the Republic visited its General Staff, in Alfragide, later going on to the Air Force Operational Command (COFA), in Monsanto, Lisbon, where he was shown some of the main capabilities of this branch of the Armed Forces.
In the company of the Minister of National Defence, Professor Doctor Nuno Severiano Teixeira, and received by the Chief of the Air Force General Staff, General Manuel José Taveira Martins, President Aníbal Cavaco Silva was firstly provided with a briefing concerning the branch, and later visited the Centre of Air Operations and the Centre of Report and Control, both located at Monsanto, where he received detailed presentations on the operational capabilities of the Air Force.
The President assisted to a real time exercise with a simulated aerial interception mission which involved two F-16 aircraft.