UK In Action: Typhoon Takeoff

Two 6 Squadron Typhoon jets arrive at Royal Air Force (RAF) Leuchars in Scotland in 2010 to replace the 111 Squadron F3 Tornados previously based there. Typhoon provides the RAF with a multi-role combat aircraft, capable of being deployed in the full spectrum of air operations, from air policing, to peace support, through to high intensity conflict. It is currently employed on permanent ops in the Falkland Islands, UK QRA North and UK QRA South. This image was a winner in the RAF Photographic Competition 2011.

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By: Widow 6-7

UK In Action: Full House

British troops are pictured onboard a Royal Air Force C-17 transport aircraft enroute to Camp Bastion in Afghanistan. The C-17 Globemaster III is one of the latest additions to the RAF’s inventory of transport aircraft. It is capable of rapid, strategic delivery of troops and all types of cargo to main operating bases anywhere in the world, or directly to more temporary forward operating bases owing to its short field capability. The design of the aircraft allows it to carry out high-angle, steep approaches at relatively slow speeds, thus allowing it to operate into small, austere airfields onto runways as short as 3,500 feet long and only 90 feet wide. The aircraft can operate into and out of problematic sites such as those surrounded by inhospitable terrain or made difficult by adverse weather conditions. The fully-integrated, electronic flight-deck and the advanced cargo-handling systems allow a basic crew of only two pilots and one air loadmaster to operate the aircraft. On the ground, the aircraft can be turned in a very small radius and its four Pratt & Whitney engines are fully reversible, giving it the ability to manoeuvre into and out of restricted parking or freight-offload areas at undeveloped strips. This enables the C-17 to deliver cargo to small airfields with limited parking space in a shorter time, so increasing throughput where time on the ground is kept to a minimum. The C-17 can transport 45,360kgs of freight over 4,500 nautical miles whilst flying at heights in excess of 30,000 feet.

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By: Widow 6-7

UK In Action: Typhoon in the Sky

A Royal Air Force Typhoon F2 jet fighter is silhouetted against the sky as it passes overhead.

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By: Widow 6-7

UK In Action: SAR at sea

A Royal Navy Search and Rescue (SAR) aircrewman is winched into the cabin of a Seaking helicopter during training off the North Cornwall coast. SAR crews practice their skills daily, as they are often called to real incidents. Recent call outs involved rescuing injured people from various sized sailing and fishing vessels, medical evacuations from the Scilly Isles and road traffic casualty airlifts. 771 Naval Air Squadron, based at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose (HMS Seahawk), near Helston, Cornwall, is tasked primarily with military and civilian Search and Rescue across a wide operating area that spans the Cornish Peninsula, Isles of Scilly, the Western English Channel, and the Southwest Approaches.

A Royal Navy Search and Rescue (SAR) aircrewman is winched into the cabin of a Seaking helicopter during training off the North Cornwall coast. The crew practice their skills daily, as they are often called to real incidents. Recent call outs involved rescuing injured people from various sized sailing and fishing vessels, medical evacuations from the Scilly Isles and road traffic casualty airlifts. 771 Naval Air Squadron, based at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose (HMS Seahawk), near Helston, Cornwall, is tasked primarily with military and civilian Search and Rescue across a wide operating area that spans the Cornish Peninsula, Isles of Scilly, the Western English Channel, and the Southwest Approaches.

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By: Widow 6-7

UK In Action: Takeoff

A Royal Air Force Tornado takes off for a sortie, with a RAPTOR imaging pod carried under the aircraft. RAPTOR's imaging capabilities mean that such missions are a key part of NATO's intelligence gathering operations. Information on time critical targets is passed by the crew while the mission is still flying; on occasions targets have been struck and destroyed before the RAPTOR missions have landed. Once the flights land, specialists from the RAF's Tactical Imagery Intelligence Wing analyse the images to identify further targets, even those that the Qadhafi regime has attempted to hide.

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By: Widow 6-7

UK In Action: Tornado to Libya

RAF Tornado GR4 aircraft takes off at Gioia Del Colle airbase. The aircraft are flying missions over Libya as part of the UN sanctioned NATO-led Operation Unified Protector. The Tornado's ability to make precise attacks on ground targets enables them to act against Libyan regime forces threatening civilians.

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By: Widow 6-7

UK In Action: Typhoon Airpower

A Royal Air Force Typhoon takes off for Libya from Gioia del Colle, southern Italy. As RAF Typhoon aircraft play a greater part in deliberate targeting operations, where targets are pre-planned, more are carrying four of the 1000lb Enhanced Paveway II bombs. The aircraft's ability to use its Litening III targeting pod to direct the highly accurate bombs means that a single Typhoon can have a devastating effect on Qadhafi regime targets.

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By: Widow 6-7

UK In Action: RAF Shooter

A Royal Air Force aircrewman leaves an RAF Merlin Helicopter at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, Afghanistan following a successful mission. This image was a winner in the Royal Air Force Photographic Competition 2010.

Image: UK MoD

By: Widow 6-7

UK In Action: Chinook Dustoff

A Royal Air Force Chinook takes off during an exercise whilst practising dust landings. The Chinook helicopter is a highly capable and versatile aircraft that can cope well in many diverse environments, including the harsh conditions of Afghanistan. Chinook helicopters can be used for search and rescue, troop insertion, casualty evacuation and supply. They are capable of carrying up to 55 troops or 10 tonnes of freight (up to five Land Rovers - two internal and three as under slung loads). The helicopter has a twin rotor design which enables it to carry a 'payload' equivalent to its own weight. This image was entered into the 2010 RAF Photographic Competition Cat A - Mobile News Team, Headquarters Air Command – First Place.

Image: UK MoD

By: Widow 6-7

UK In Action: Buckingham Flyby

Two Royal Air Force VC-10 tanker/transport from RAF Brize Norton are pictured flying over Buckingham Palace. The Royal Air Force helped to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Birthday with a flypast over Buckingham Palace at 1.00 pm on Saturday 12th June 2010. The flypast was made up of 30 aircraft - 13 different types, from World War ll Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster, to modern multi-role Typhoon fighters and the Red Arrows aerobatic display team. The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) will lead the formation, their inclusion commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain. The formation elements flew over Buckingham Palace at altitudes of between 1,300 feet and 1,500 feet starting at 1.00 pm precisely. The flypast took three minutes 40 seconds to fly over the Palace.

Image: UK MoD

By: Widow 6-7

UK In Action: Helicopters Over England

A Royal Navy Merlin (top) and Lynx Mk 8 helicopter.

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By: Widow 6-7

UK In Action: Typhoon Takeoff

A Royal Air Force Typhoon aircraft takes off from RAF Coningsby for its new home at RAF Leuchars in Scotland, after achieving full operational readiness. Number 6 Squadron are the first Typhoon fighter squadron in Scotland, and will be based Royal Air Force Leuchars. The Typhoon is the RAF’s state of the art multi-role combat aircraft that entered operational service in 2007. The occasion was marked with a ceremony which involved the presentation of the Squadron’s Standard to the Officer Commanding. On 11 September the Squadron’s Standard was paraded for the Chief of the Air Staff, accompanied by an iconic flypast, to mark the beginning of the RAF Leuchars Airshow and celebrate the reformation of the Squadron. Number 6 Squadron are the first of three Typhoon squadrons planned to be based at RAF Leuchars. The Squadron will continue to build up and train over the next few months and will ultimately consist of approximately 200 people; many of whom are originally from Scotland. The Squadron will take over responsibility for providing the northern element of the Quick Reaction Alert force in March 2011, providing aircraft and crews on high alert to scramble and intercept unidentified aircraft approaching UK airspace.

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By: Widow 6-7

UK In Action: Aircrew

Pictured are the Aircrew from a CH47 Chinook Helicopter, part of 27 Squadron RAF currently operating at Bagram Airbase, Afghanistan. The Aircraft and crew are operating in support of the Operation Jacana Taskforce in the region. 27 Squadron RAF is normally based at RAF Odiham in Hampshire when not deployed on operational duties.

Image: UK MoD

By: Widow 6-7

India and UK Conduct Joint Air Exercise

An ongoing UK-India joint air exercise will give the Indian Air Force the opportunity to kick the tires (so to speak) of the Typhoon, which may be adopted by the Indian Air Force as its new Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft.

India and the United Kingdom began joint air exercises in the Indian state of West Bengal on Oct. 20. Exercise Indradhanush, which concludes Nov. 3, will see the Indian airborne early warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft participate for the first time in any joint operation.

Along with its E-3D sentry AWACS and VC-10 midair refuelers, the U.K. Royal Air Force is fielding the Eurofighter Typhoon, which is competing for the Indian Air Force's $10 billion Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft. The exercise marks the first time that the Indian Air Force has engaged a Typhoon and will help the service evaluate the European combat aircraft, an Indian Air Force official said.

The Indian Air Force is fielding its Russian-built Su-30MKI and MiG-27 and French-built Mirage 2000-H aircraft.

The joint air exercises will include operations against each other and combined maneuvers to help the pilots improve their skills.

The emphasis will be on exposing the controllers of AWACS aircraft to large-scale engagements and protection of high-value aerial assets in addition to management of logistical needs, the Indian Air Force official said.

By: Shelldrake

UK In Action: Tornado in Nevada

A Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 aircraft from 13 Squadron, is pictured in a hangar at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, USA during a pre-deployment training exercise. The massive desert ranges around the US base covering 15,000 square miles (38,850 sq km) of airspace provide conditions similar to those faced by British forces operating in Helmand province. And the involvement of the United States Air Force at Nellis, which is home to more squadrons than any other American base, provides the experience of working in a multi-national environment that British troops who operate as part of NATOs International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, also encounter.

Image: UK MoD

By: Widow 6-7

WW2 Bombs Force Rennes and Woippy Evacuations

The discovery of unexploded bombs from the Second World War triggered large scale evacuations in the northern French cities of Rennes and Woippy.

Sixty five years after the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany, the city in Brittany was closed as engineers worked to defuse a 550lb RAF device. It was one of thousands dropped on northern France in 1944 as Allied troops prepared to invade. Some 10,000 people living in Rennes were involved in the evacuation as the centre of the city resembled a ghost town.

"I remember the bombing raids during the war when hundreds were killed," said Maurice Leclerc, an 81-year-old pensioner who was among the evacuees.

"The fact that the bombs are still disrupting our lives all these years on is truly incredible."

Further east, 4,500 people were moved out of Woippy, in the suburbs of Metz, as bomb disposal experts worked on devices around a former Wehrmacht supply centre. It is now being converted into a bus station, but was bombed so many times during the war that its basement and foundations are littered with ordnance, including RAF and US air force devices.

All of the work was being coordinated by France's Département du Déminage (Department of Mine Clearance), which recovers around 1,000 tons of unexploded munitions every year. Since 1945, around 650 of its staff have died handling unexploded munitions, two as recently as 1998 in the former First World War battlefield of Vimy Ridge. Their work is concentrated on the so-called 'Iron Harvest' of unexploded ordnance which is littered around the battlefields and bombing targets of northern France. Many of the devices are still live, and the workers are particularly wary of artillery shells containing chemical warfare agents like mustard gas, which was widely used during the trench warfare of World War I.

By: Shelldrake

BUB: UK Defence Review and Cuts

Oi! The UK strategic defence review view isn't causing ripples, it's making waves.

To save the budget for two aircraft carriers, the Royal Navy is looking to close the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth. Given the significant cuts coming for the Navy, it's understood that they don't need as much manpower, but in a military as traditional as ours, it's still an off-kilter move. The RAF is also likely to whack a pair of bases in Scotland, too (Lossiemouth and Kinloss).

Speaking of the RAF, it looks like the next generation of Nimrod surveillance planes are on the block, too.

There is no shortage of pundits out to criticise the review, either.

And of course, the inevitable wailing and gnashing of teeth from large defence contractors.

By: Widow 6-7

Morning Headlines: DADT, Terror in Iran, and more

A federal judge has put a stop to discharges under DADT while other sort out the politics of it all.

South Korean naval drills are getting underway soon, and in preparation, there are analysts and experts gathering in Busan.

As if US-Mexican border tensions were bad enough, the Mexican investigator looking into the death of a US citizen on Falcon Lake was decapitated.

No word on whether it was an accident or intentional, but with 18 Revolutionary Guards dead in an ammunition explosion, would you actually expect the truth from the Iranians?

With aircraft cuts looming, one of the UK's Air Marshals warns that England may be vulnerable to a 9/11-style threat. 'Cuz, y'know, armed fighter aircraft were so useful during those hijackings.

By: Brant

Prince William Rescue Service

Prince William has performed his first rescue as an RAF pilot.

Britain's Prince William performed his first rescue since becoming qualified as a search-and-rescue pilot last month, the Royal Air Force (RAF) said Tuesday.
It happened Saturday after a crewman on an offshore gas rig became seriously ill, the RAF said.
William was the co-pilot of a four-man crew on an RAF Sea King helicopter that picked the crewman up from the accommodation rig next to the platform in Morecambe Bay, about 50 miles north of Liverpool.
They transferred the man to a helicopter landing site on land, where he was put on a waiting ambulance and taken to a nearby hospital, the RAF said.
'Prince William is pleased finally to be able to contribute to the life-saving work of the Search and Rescue Force,' a spokesman for the prince said. 'He is proud, after two years of intense training, to be able to serve in one of Britain's foremost emergency services.'

By: Widow 6-7

British Armed Forces in Pictures

From The Telegraph, a set of nice infographics on the UK military






By: Brant