Aircraft stationed at RAF Brize Norton are playing a pivotal role in the ongoing evacuation of British citizens from Sudan.

The RAF’s Air Mobility Force, which includes C-17 Globemaster, A400M Atlas, and C-130J Hercules aircraft, has been conducting flights from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus to Sudan to execute this critical evacuation operation.

In addition to the evacuation efforts, the Air Mobility Force aircraft have been operating between RAF Brize Norton and RAF Akrotiri to ensure that the support force, consisting of over 1,500 UK Armed Forces personnel, is positioned and ready to conduct the operation on the UK Government’s orders while remaining properly supported.

Air Marshal Harv Smyth, Deputy Commander Operations of the RAF, stated, “The ability of the Air Mobility Force and all our associated supporting units to conduct this operation with such pace and precision demonstrates our flexibility and agility to utilise air power at range, at a moment’s notice, to protect UK citizens anywhere across the world.”

He added that the RAF is concurrently supporting other critical operations, such as those in Ukraine and across the Middle East, expressing immense pride in the team’s ongoing efforts.

Evacuation flights were conducted by A400M Atlas and C-130J Hercules aircraft, departing from Wadi Seidna north of Khartoum. Upon arrival at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus, evacuees were subsequently returning to the UK on board FCDO-chartered aircraft.

Concurrently, RAF C-17 Globemaster aircraft had been carrying equipment to Sudan and the surrounding region to support ongoing operations.

In addition to these essential sorties, members of Number 1 Squadron, RAF Regiment, were deployed to provide security at landing sites in Sudan, while RAF Police are assisting evacuees. Air Movements personnel have also been deployed to manage logistics, with 24/7 command and control supported by Number 11 Group at HQ Air Command in Buckinghamshire.

As part of the initial flights, RAF Voyager aircraft transported elements of the 16 Air Assault Brigade to Cyprus, along with additional RAF personnel to augment the British Forces already stationed on the island.

The RAF has also deployed further support, including chefs from 3 Mobile Catering Squadron, medics from the Tactical Medical Wing, and communication technicians from 90 Signals Unit.

Tom Dunlop
Tom Dunlop
Tom has spent the last 13 years working in the defence industry, specifically military and commercial shipbuilding. His work has taken him around Europe and the Far East, he is currently based in Scotland.

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69 COMMENTS

  1. I would question the decision to scrap the invaluable C-130J Hercs, once again they are proving invaluable. They provide mass to the RAF transport capability and they are well suited to the SF support role, in a way that the A400M Atlas are not.

    With a £15billion uplift to the defence budget SoS Defence Ben Wallace and the new Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Sir Richard Knighton should review this regretable decision

    • You would think so David, unfortunately the drum beat of contraction simply continues without any sign of let up….

      I dare say the extra funding will simply be sucked up in ever more extravagant bespoke projects, as the defence industrial fat cats suckle on the teet…

      • I’m guessing that the fat cats you are referring to are companies owned by the pension funds paid into by millions of brits. Yes I agree more competition is needed but it is perhaps too easy to blame fat cats when it is simply government policy which needs to adapt to a new age of defence procurement.

        I recall there was a massive outcry when we scrapped our previous carriers and left a gap until the Queen Elizabeth class arrived. A dangerous strategy but was that contraction?

        In my view it is too easy to blame everything on individuals being greedy. Incompetent maybe – that is natural.

        • Afternoon Mark,

          Regarding contraction, our entire armed forces has been in post cold war contraction in all areas since 1990.

          The original envisaged options for change defence review in 1991, configured our armed forces for the post cold war world.

          Force levels dropped across the board and people were concerned, but resigned to the coming cuts.

          The reality is we can only dream of an armed forces sized as it was in say 1995 today.

          Round after round of relentless cuts, year in, year out, have savaged and almost destroyed unilateral capability to the very point we would today struggle to deploy and sustain more than a single Brigade.

          The RAF would struggle to deploy and sustain more than 12 Thypoons without damaging current commitments..

          I see absolutely no sign whatsoever of anything changing, bar political hot air, no action, nothing, zip, zero.

          Force structure simply continues to shrink.

          The main problem we have is the defence budget is primarily there to support the defence industrial base, not to actually fund defence of the realm, it’s the classic tail wagging the dog situation…

          • Morning John.

            The defence industry is great for underpinning whole communities across the world. Providing skilled work. If a steady drumbeat of work were not there it would cost us all far more in the long run. Military kit has become essential for many reasons.

            You are quite correct there has been contraction in forces for many decades especially in the west. To be fair that (in part) matches a reduction in the capability of Russia and the switching of sides of many countries.

            There has been a noticable shift towards modernisation and expensive complicated kit rather than people. This seems to have start with the RN moving on to the RAF. There seems to be indecision so far as the Army is concerned. Perhaps a combination of a lack of potential new recruits & a determination that European countries on the front line will defend themselves far better than we ever could.

            Whilst I totally agree that we need kit in far greater numbers & an adequate professional Army we can see how western kit & skills defeats the the wave attacks by the like of Russian conscripts. We need to focus on maximising the effectivness of every soldier we have. Many mistakes have obviously being made but we have an approach that deters & seems to work.The Government can’t give much more money at the moment there are too many ungent priorities & joe public has become complacent.

    • I totally agree with you.

      I think it is too late if you follow the administrative orthodoxy. However, if you follow a needs must orthodoxy then anything is possible: even this!

      – All of the spares have long since been sold off; and
      – Training of aircrew and ground crew has long since been stopped; and
      – Sales of all of the remaining frames have been pretty much agreed as unsurprisingly there was a lot of interest for well maintained C130J airframes as the type is still current in lots of places.

      Ho hum – we will miss them when they are gone as it isn’t like the Tristars etc where the replacements were conspicuously better than old frames.

    • Its No Good Keep Beating that Same Drum, RAF don’t want to keep them £ per mile over a A400 is higher per Ton. SF wont pay to keep them. They have been run hard and long and RAF want to lose capacity to then Push for More A400. UK is the largest fleet operator of the A400s. SF will adapt to the new airframes and will have access to Fat Chinooks. C130s would need a major Refit or just sell on and allow someone else that headache. RAF wants less Variations on Airframes as its cheap to run a single fleet.

  2. The media (looks at a certain public funded news and media outfit) really went out of their way to berate the Gov for picking up the Diplomatic staff and their families first. Which other news agencies around the world have latched onto, in which to berate the Uk. Here a few facts and a Map:
     
    In the early hours of the morning of 15 April 2023 The RSF started a series of assaults on key buildings in Khartoum, primarily Khartoum International Airport.(1)  They also attacked and captured the Presidential Palace,(2)  the residence of the former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, and attacked a military base  in response the Sudanese armed forces launched a counter attack the next day. On the 17th the Sudanese Government closed all the airspace over Sudan (which actually stymied a secret German rescue mission involving 3x  A400s which had to divert to Greece, and which then returned to Germany.)
    On the 18th during a so called ceasefire between both sides, the Sudanese government used its airforce to target the RSF positions in Khartoum in return the RSF used AAA and heavy artillery to fight them off shooting down a number of helicopters which I can only presume are Mil 24 Hinds (of which it has 48)
    On the 19th Battles continued in Khartoum near the army headquarters, the presidential palace and the airport, with heavy weapons used. The Sudanese Army said it was attacked by the RSF at its General command headquarters, (3) fighting continued in these 3 main areas up to the 23rd The UK embassy staff were evacuated on the 22nd.
     https://i.postimg.cc/1XHPG2DZ/Opera-Snapshot-2023-04-29-094249-www-google-co-uk.jpg

    For some strange reason the media hasn’t bothered to mention the full details why the British embassy staff were evacuated first, (bang smack in the middle of the current war zone . If they had we wouldn’t see many other news outlets parroting the same line, and in the case of the independent this :
    ‘We were told the UK would save us’: British medical student stuck at Egypt-Sudan border
    A medical student desperate to escape the fighting in Khartoum has told how he spent $600 (£480) on a bus journey across the desert to reach the border with Egypt but has been waiting two days to cross. The 21-year-old, who has dual British and Sudanese nationality, had been living with his aunt and her family in Sudan while studying medicine. But the entire family abandoned the home as the conflict intensified, with those without British nationality heading for the countryside…Mr Adam told i: “Honestly, we were told that the British would come and save us. Then we found out the SAS [Special Air Service] had come to get the white diplomats.
     
    Statements like that will regurgitate amongst the Islamic community across the Uk, resulting in the sharp polarization of an already polarised religious population, who as we have seen time and time again have no problems expressing themselves violently and the seeds for that were sown by the media, who haven’t gone out of their to report that actually the British Embassy is slap bang in the middle of the fighting

    Distances from the embassy to the main fighting points I have highlighted:
    1) Airport: 700 Metres
    2) Presidential Palace: 1200 metres
    3) General Command HQ : 800 Metres

    FYI, the German Embassy is on the north side of the Blue Nile which splits Khatoum in 2, with the French Embassy 2 miles south of the British embassy as the crow flies and the US embassy 7.8 miles south

    • Were all the diplomats white?…Was that statement accurate & fact checked prior to the news outlet printing that …just asking is all…

      • Don’t think whether they were all white or not should even be checked, it’s simply wrong to assume policy is being made in London to rescue white people only, and to suggest otherwise (subtext of some media reporting) is identity politics for the sake of it.

    • As far as I can tell the US government has only flown out diplomatic staff first as well, normal US citizens are being provided a bus to a port.

      I think people forget that as employees of HMG who were sent there as their place of work HMG has a contractual obligation to ensure their safety. For Other UK citizens it’s the best appropriate effort. What I think had very bad optics is the home office deciding that people who had a right to reside and worked for HMG would not get seats on planes and then when it came out there were a load of NHS drs stuck in the country backtracked, that just looked mean spirited with a touch of xenophobia ( yes you may have been working and saving British children for that last 4 years…and you may be due back at work on Tuesday..and impact services that will save more children if your not their…but you don’t have a British passport so your not getting on)….

      But the whole issue of diplomatic staff first is utter BS and actually they have done a fair bit.

      • More to the point the FCDO has been advising against travel to the region for quite a long time.

        Are they executing the ambassador to arrive in his Roller to rescue them and personally drive swerving through gunshots to arrive dusty and breathless at the embassy in time for a snifter as the sun passes over the yard arm? ‘Golly close shave, that, old chap?’

        All filmed in sepia with a soundtrack spoken briskly with clothes pegs on their noses?

        These things are not at all easy to organise and very, very high risk to carry out.

        I’d love to know if we did or didn’t tell them the extraction was going on and what was potentially flying overhead as top cover?

        • Yes Indeed, there is no right to be rescued by the the UK armed forces because you’re British. The UK government staff out there working can and should expect HMG to ensure their safe return…everyone else lets be honest needs to realise if they put themselves in unsafe positions then there is only so much any government can be expected to do. it shows just a little bit of western exceptionalism on the part of the media and public to expect just because they are citizens of western democracies that somehow out governments can just pop in and save them from the Nasty third world armies having a war.

          • It was a bit different when gun boat diplomacy worked. Or you could shoot up the place to make a point. Or when the British forces were so big nobody wanted to bait them.

            These days the TIPLACs know we can’t just shell/bomb them into submission.

    • Now I don’t personally know, but I did wonder if other countries had evacuated their diplomatic staff firstly, or told them to make their way and stand in line like everybody else – as could possibly be inferred from well published comments. I don’t mind being countered – good on them if that was their actual modus, but I am dubious.
      Rgs

      • There is no way any government did anything else than ensure the safety of their diplomats…they actually have a direct duty of care to those individuals who are in that place because they work for that government…and because of that are potentially at higher risk of being used as leverage….random citizens…can hope their government can put together a safe way out (as has happened) for them but there is no direct obligation to run in risking the life and limb of service personal as well as potentially create a military incident..to protect people who made a choice to be there…..it’s not like this was a suprise.

        • Devil’s Advocacy … perhaps dubious was a bit understated. Maybe it’s more Foreign Ministers that should mind their comments, Jonathan 😒 Rgs

          • Yes I think there are a few that probably should have…it of inappropriate and unjustified “look how good we are” going on I suspect….but then all politicians in every nation do that.

    • From what I have read (and yours is the most detailed) our armed forces have done us proud sweeping up a mess created elsewhere by people handing out British passports like sweets. The Foreign Office issued warnings against travel to Sudan two years ago. Many British passport holders who ignored this sage advice were at home for Ramadan. Really useful to have. I must get one.

  3. Those landing sites will be extra secure as 1 Sqn RAF “not quite infantry”, brought their own entrance barriers and extra yellow vests (combat variant, a duller yellow) and have already minted an operation medal for those of the “Regiment” who have completed a total of 100 plus barrier raises in a 24 hour period!

  4. bad press and yet airlifted the most persons.

    FO should not of played up getting diplomatic staff out whilst uk nationals still on the ground basic PR mistake
    how were we ever gonna get 4000 uk nationals out if it was contested by waring factions. FO had no plan before this kicked off.
    this should be the understood by all UK nationals AND dual nationals – you go to no travel zones at own risk with no expectation of rescue period, in fact write it in the passports.

    question the common sense of families going to a trouble zone for holidays, although an unexpected outcome maybe they will be eternally grateful for the RAF airlift.

    • Eternally grateful, I doubt it, probably already putting in complaints about the ‘service’ they received, with cases of compensation starting soon…

      I wonder if either side in the great ‘fight for fu*k all’ Sudanese bun fight use Corporal Jones trick of digging a foxhole and jabbing up with bayonet when the other side walk across…. ” They don’t like it up em, they do not like it up em….”

      An old favourite in the Sudan according to him….

      • really unwise to complain about being lifted out by RAF would look utterly ungrateful and entitled and don’t forget many uk nationals still there.
        heard arguments for there to be a legal immigration route in from sudan , no let up from the open borders supporters. 40M+ live in sudan, is it suggested we take a small percentage?

    • There seemed an often more balanced and more appreciative response from evacuated dual passport holders, who presumably knew the degree of danger extant, than from our Press, etc. Good on them.

  5. Considering how old and worn out the Royal Air Force C-130J are, keeping the C-130J is simply not economical as the A400M can do the Hercs job plus all the Hercules fanboys need to remember that for one, the Airbus A400M was designed to replace the Hercules and two the C-130 Hercules is a 75+ year old design that the Americans only keep using because they have no alternative whereas the British do have an alternative, the A400M

    • I do not agree, how can it do the Hercules job?

      You could get HMS QE to do a River B1’s job, that does not mean it is the best asset for that tasking.

      Yes, I understand Atlas STOL capability is excellent, and it is a superior aircraft, but is its size ideal for the tasks the Hercules have? It’s range, payload, speed are all greater, do you actually need that payload in an aircraft assigned to DSF when transporting smaller loads ranging from some blokes with kit to a half Sqn with some vehicles/stores.

      If it is doing the job that the several Hercules of 47 Sqn SFF are currently doing, and dedicated to, as the SFF has/had dedicated assets, then it cannot be elsewhere doing another tasking that is now uncovered as it is doing the Hercules job for Ac that are no longer available.

      I understand that in Defence, there are bids for airlift assets from users and tasks are allocated according to priority. So who now misses out as the RAFs AT Force reduces by 25% while not reducing the taskings the force meets?

      The usual HMG crap of doing more, and more, with less, ongoing.

      22 Atlas.
      1 in Falklands.
      1 Standby at Brize for SPAG.
      1 Committed to SDF, unless that is also now gapped.
      ? number in C&M/Depth M.
      ? number now allocated to DSF / 47 Sqn.
      ? remaining.

      The 8 C17s have also been run into the ground due to excessive use due to the usual lack of assets. So now the same will happen with Atlas?

      The loss of Herc can be mitigated to some extent by additional Atlas, and there is no sign of them any time soon.

      Just my thoughts, in the ATF numbers matter, not just tonnage, speed, and range.

      • No its Size is the issue on the C130Js they are a 75 year old design to carry 70 year old Vehicles. I wasn’t aware you cannot fit a Puma in a Herc, they are to tall. has to be a A400/C17s. They mutterings are that a Smaller Airframe is being considered to meet the SF needs, But the Fat Chinooks when they arrive could take over the C130s. time to change. they are like your old slippers or Triggers Broom

        • Morning Jon.

          “The mutterings are that a Smaller Airframe is being considered to meet the SF needs”
          Oh? Where did you read, hear that?

          While Puma may not fit in a Herc other stuff the SF community use does, as they use the force every day, so if they needed to move a Puma like those that supported TFB in Baghdad they’ll put it in a C17.

          And regards size, do we know that size and oversized loads is an issue regards DSF taskings? From what I know, I’d suggest not.

          What is important is the availability of the Ac, which if it is Atlas doing a hundred other jobs as well as the SF taskings on top means they will not be available unless something elsewhere gives.

          The extended range Chinooks will just take over from existing SF Chinooks with 7 Sqn/JSFAW. DSF have both 7 Sqn and 47 Sqn supporting them, so if they “replace” the Hercs with Chinook that is yet another stupid cut. How slow will a Chinook be if SF needed to deploy to Africa or the ME direct compared to a Herc?

          Another AC is needed and if it is true a batch of smaller ac is being considered then that at least takes some of the workload off the Atlas, which was my point in my original post.

          An aircraft, no matter how good it is, cannot be in 2 places at once doing 2 taskings.

          This is a cut no matter how much better the Atlas is.

          • To Be Honest i don’t agree with the Cut, But its a RAF cut to save Money, reduces fleet training and the list goes on. they are the oldest airframes. There is a Paper out on transport midsized, and we know there is little options in that range

    • Why then is the British Hercules taking a pivotal role in the evacuation if the UK also has the A400?
      A 75 year old aircraft design, still being manufactured and sold worldwide (outselling the A400 significantly) should tell you one thing….. the designers got it just right…..

      • They are using them because they are being retired so the Royal Air Force may as well burn up the remaining airframe life as they will have to be refurbished before we can sell them as they will have to fix the wing box which was why the Hercules is being retired

        Yeah it was the right aircraft for the 1960s but it is a 75+ year old design that really has likely got little room for further development whereas the A400M has more room for growth

      • A400/C130s/C17s and Voyager have all been active, would suggest its what ever was to hand and closest. A400s flew more Flights in and out than Hercs. yep they got it right 70 years ago. So did Ford and the Model T. But how many of those are used daily

      • I think this just shows the stupidity of Freedomboos that has been allowed to fester unchecked for a long time

        The war in Afghanistan has run these airframes right into the ground and the RAF would have had to replace them in the 2030s regardless, long term it is better for the Royal Air Force to get rid of the Hercules now and use the resources that keeping the Hercules in service would have consumed for use where it is needed

        • Agreed the Fleet has been Used hard and they will need major overhaul for limited gain. and probably sold off just after that refit, as per the normal. and then people would moan about that. A400s does put money in UK pockets.

  6. Whatever the merits of the Hercules vs Atlas it’s quite telling that France feels the need to operate double or more transport aircraft than the RAF will soon have but with a similar spread of global commitments.

    • Yet France’s Navy is a little short compared to the RN, Airbase Princess sat on the Tarmac. its like Super Trumps France has a 100 so we must have 200. Just because. yet France doesnt have the same capacity, only Just getting it Voyagers to the same numbers as the UK.

      • Can’t agree that the French Navy is inferior to the RN. It’s swings and roundabouts….they only have 1 carrier but it’s normally packed with aircraft. Their escort fleet can be considered slightly lighter in capability if not numbers but arguably their amphibious fleet is as good with it’s 3 Mistrals and 2 submarine fleets are comparable. Additionally they field a much larger patrol/survey/mine-warfare fleet backing up the higher end stuff.

        The French Air force is looking to maintain a 200 strong fast-jet fleet in addition to larger transport/helicopter fleets and the French Army is well organized with a clear equipment plan and sense of what it needs to achieve.

        All in all France seems to let a lot more out of it’s comparable budget by having a clearer focus and by having a close relationship with home-grown industries than The UK does!

        • 107 Tranche 2 and tranche 3 typhoons as well as 74 F35B will be much better than any number of Rafales. France will not have a stealthy jet before 2040 when we already operate one.
          CdG has probably spent half its lifetime in refit-showing the vulnerability of a one carrier fleet.
          French army is in a much better place though.

        • credit to france, they do their own nuclear deterrent as well without american help. their industry has always had more of an eye for overseas sales. think uk made the right choice about 2 cheap carriers, the new pang carrier is a riskier project plus need to develop the carrier gen 5 jet

        • Word is French has equipment numbers, but is suffering recruitment, which is why its able to sell its kit off without a fall in capabilities. CDG is coming to the end of its Life cycle, and cannot twin cycle q. and cycle rate is below a QE class. French Government likes to fund its industrial partners, much like the UK did until they took the Piss, And France sold weapons to anyone.

    • First flight23 August 1954; 68 years ago and could carry at the time a Daimler Ferret Armoured car. how many of those are still in service. Girth is the Herc shortfall.

      • Yeah as the A400M can carry 81,600ibs of cargo which is more than the C-130 and the stretched dash 30 Hercules

  8. As a dual national myself (UK and South Africa) I am fully aware that in South Africa I cannot expect any support from the UK (in SA I am seen as a SA citizen) and conversely in the UK I would not expect sny assistance from the SA embassy. Of these 4000(?) UK passport holders how many are Sudan/UK dual nationals?

    • agreed. my mrs is dual national, but i think there are flaws with the concept. can’t really live in 2 countries at once just really need ability to travel and remain. ive tried to find out more about dual nationality, think the british started it in 1948 going into commonwealth from empire and it may be seen as being progressive these days.

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