Britain has taken command of NATO’s air policing mission in Romania.
Typhoon jets, along with their pilots and ground crew, will lead the NATO Enhanced Air Policing mission for the fourth time since it began in 2014. The UK is taking over from Italy.
Additional British Typhoon jets will also be deployed to Romania to bolster NATO air defence capabilities in Eastern Europe near the Russian border. Together with eight Typhoons stationed in Cyprus, this uplift will bring the total number of RAF fighter jets stationed in South-Eastern Europe to 14, say the Royal Air Force.
The two additional jets are expected to remain in Romania until the end of July.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace made the announcement on a visit to Mihail Kogalniceanu Airbase in Romania alongside Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, where they met Romanian officials and observed UK jets taking part in NATO’s Air Policing mission. Operation Biloxi is the British name for the NATO Air Policing mission.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace MP said:
“The UK and Romania are steadfast in the defence of our shared values and commitment to NATO’s collective security, in the air, at sea, and on land. Together we are supporting Ukraine in its defence against Putin’s illegal invasion and I pay tribute to Romania’s generosity providing shelter for the tens of thousands of innocent civilians fleeing this horrific conflict.”
The UK Government said in a news release:
“Air policing is a purely defensive operation and a permanent NATO mission which began in 1961 during the Cold War. The mission ensures the security and integrity of all NATO Alliance members’ airspaces. Airspace is monitored by operations centres and, where it is assessed that an interception is required, NATO aircraft can be scrambled as part of a Quick Reaction Alert. The UK supports Romania by augmenting its own capabilities.”
Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston said:
“Our air forces are at the vanguard of NATO’s collective security, united in our shared determination to protect our nations. From the North of Norway to the Black Sea and Mediterranean, aircraft are airborne, alert and ready to defend against any threat to NATO territory or populations.”
All well and good but we must be at maximum availability on typhoon, the government seriously need another look at fighter numbers. This and ABM are priority number 1 in a dust up with with Russia or China.
One thing the Ukraine war has showed is how fast Assets would be used up in any peer conflict. Alone – the Uk doesn’t have it. Though in a peer conflict we wouldn’t be fighting alone.
Main thing that the conflict has shown is that Russia isn’t a threat anymore. Their gear including airforce has been found seriously lacking. Before the war I thought the token numbers we send to the eastern NATO border was dangerously low, but now it looks like overkill.
Of course they’re a threat. Ask Ukraine. Not as formidable on the battlefield as we feard but if all your friends stand by letting you fight them alone it is a nightmare. They’ve been aggressively trying to destabalise us & undermine our democracy for decades. What effect has all that Russian money had on our spinelesss Tory government? Any relation to being the weakest we’ve been for over a century & failing to deter their aggression?
Pity we’ve taken their wild threats to heart rather than call their bluff & helped kick them out of the Ukraine, ending the war far sooner, probably deterring many of their offensives & crimes. But we seem far too happy to allow Ukrainian blood flow for all the fine words, aid & kit we send plus Boris grandstanding.
Your usual predictable rant! Would any alternative UK govt taken military action, I do not think so!
Of course no British government would take military action against a non-nazi nation.
No sensible government would take miltiary action against a state that has nukes and has some serious face saving to do. So far it seems Putin has been sensible and not ordered a nuclear attack against Ukraine, but if he gets too cornered within his own circle of power, he could change that as a last ditched attempt to maintain power.
Get a grip frank
“What effect has all that Russian money had on our spinelesss Tory government?”
What effect indeed? When push comes to shove pretty well nothing for Russia. The UK has ( along with the US and Poland) been leading the charge against Russia.
Perhaps you might want to ask spineless France and Germany ( along with Italy and Spain) as to what they have been doing? As little as possible is the answer I think you will find…..
The effect is an extreme brexit and creating a divide between the UK and EU, to a point where Boris was not invited to a secruity meeting involving the US and EU even though he asked to be invited. not just talking brexit itself, but what has happened following it.
How much comes down to Russia interference and how much to Boris say whatever it takes to get to tomorrow mentiality is debatable. I kinda feel russian interference is minor, but the FBI and MI5 investigations both clearly showed it did something (the vote for example was close, how much closer would it have been without them involved, who knows). May/Boris/Trump/co trying to hide the reports show they believed it did.
When I said above I think this war has showed russia is not a threat, I meant militarily. Clearly they are a massive one polictically, although that has been shattered with the war, as no polictican would dare get involved with russian money for a wee while.
I agree with your point regarding the vote to leave the EU, remember that the national turnout was a meagre 37%, with at most a 4% difference in the result. The UK has become a pariah politically, both in Europe and the World in that we cannot be trusted to keep to the established treaties which have been negotiated. As a result, we are poorer in security and ultimately economically also.
It’s a NATO level call not Boris! Don’t let your dislike of the Tories colour your overview! We couldn’t have got into the fight from day one as it wasn’t our fight technically was it! The Russkies remain a threat yes but only a nuclear one as their conventional forces have shown that they are disorganised incompetent and very badly trained and led. We now support Ukraine as it’s in everyone’s interest to do so, including Ukraines! And for the record every single Government since the late 90s have cut the military! How would Corbyn have handled this, thank fuck he was shown to be a useless shite or we could have had him, backed by momentum fascists in power! Similar setup to Putins in fact.
Bravo.
Well said 🇬🇧
Hi AB
I thought to share this little pearl from the NZ Green party defence spokesperson (yes, they actually have a defence person or maybe that’s the de-armament person).
NZ is finally sending support troops to Poland and contributing cash to weapons for the Ukraine. Anyhow, this poor excuse for an oxygen thief comments on the National news last night : “We prefer to see these funds spent on humanitarian aid rather than weapons that will increase the killing”:
Oh dear, enough said.
And people vote for these pathetic wasters mate. But, let’s not be kidded that if we here in UK had Corbyn and his acolytes as PM we wouldn’t be doing what we are doing and in fact would probably become the pariah of the west. Good job Corbyn was shown to be a fuck wit, surrounded by even more fuck wits!!!!!! Cheers mate.
too true re Corbyn et al , stay safe Mate.
Indeed…
Amazing how people have forgotten that Corbin is anti British, Anti UK military and anti Democracy….
Spineless Tory government? No matter who is in power parliament would not vote for war against the Russian Federation, loo, at the bigger picture and learn from it. I for one do not wish to see yellow buckets of sunshine raining down on the planet.
It’s not one party Tory or otherwise who votes for war, its parliament. Declare war on a nuclear superpower! I for one have no wish to see yellow buckets of sunshine raining down on the planet.
Boris is not the only one grand standing…..
Yes we could do more… Every country could…
But what would be Putins answer to an aggressive move by NATO or members there of???
Pray tell, how you would stop the lunatic from using Nukes?
Don’t let the Russians poor performance in Ukraine lull you into a false sense of security. If all this has shown us anything it has confirmed what a dangerous animal Putin is. He will be hell bent on rectifying what has gone wrong in Ukraine and will spare nothing to achieve it, least of all his own people. Also in peer conflict we’d be looking at their nuclear arsenal too. Don’t assume that what has happened will remain as a status quo.
Russia are a threat to having a nice peaceful & civilised European continent.
They invade other countries and commit awful criminal acts against the population.
I’m not sure of a better reason for defence than to say ‘we need to defend what we believe in and stand for?’
That said the six Typhoon with the other NATO forces would shred Russian forces quite quickly. The other NATO and allied forces do include large numbers of Typhoon, F16, F35B and Tonka.
What a ridiculous statement, yeah they’ve fucked up badly tactically and their equipment isn’t as good as we feared but they are still a huge army with huge reserves and I still wouldn’t underestimate them, and as Ukraine is showing, Soviet equipment in the right hands is still something to fear.
James but most of their reserves both kit and people are even worse! Yes never underestimate your enemy but never overestimate them also in your planning considerations.
Hi Airborne
I wonder how many of those reservists would actually report if they were called up? I could be wrong, but I think the Russian reserve is inactive. In other word’s, they don’t attend annual training camps.
They role in twice a year mate and overlap in training and in Battalion. The training and knowledge is limited in training and once out, calling up a load of out of date, limited trained and experienced people, to include those who are supposed to be technically trained, will be a busted flush mate. Many will be keeping a low profile and as you say many don’t attend refresher time. Waste of time mate, and if the blokes will be shit imagine what the kit they are dragging out of store is like? Cheers.
cheers AB, thanks for that. I wouldn’t begrudge them for not reporting up to their annual camps.
Me neither mate!
If they have such huge reserves, why are the asking the Syrians to do they fighting for them. Or calling up Russian Army vets that left the Army 10 years ago. Smells of desperation.
Agreed mate!
It was also reported that there were issues with unit commanders reporting a high number of personal then they had and selling off supply’s. corruption seem to be a big issue
Not to mention mercenaries from the Central African Republic. How desperate do you have to be to recruit 5th-rate mercs whose only combat experience is carving up peasants with machetes?
Then again, given what we’ve seen of Russian troops’ behaviour lately, maybe they’ll fit right in!
And therein lies the rub James – equipment in the right hands. I can’t see other elements of the Russian army doing any better, not in the short term anyway,
It’s a dangerous mistake to underestimate your enemy. Also, let’s say this thing ends tomorrow. How sure are you Putin won’t spend the next 10 years making the necessary reforms and trying something else? Let’s be honest, their greatest mistake was not being properly prepared for the war at hand. They planned for minimal resistance and executed accordingly. Something tells me Putin would try it differently next time.
Also, it’s evident that tactics aside, their other greatest weakness is logistics and possibly maintenance. Both are fixable if Putin wants it bad enough.
Agreed, all fixable over a period of years, but the money, the will and the effort has to be there! A complete change to the Armies structure is needed, and to a change of doctrine (which is ingrained and not compatible with the Russian leadership) would be the introduction of a professional and experienced JNCO/SNCO cadre. Until they become professional (and not contract ie conscripts signing on for longer but with the same limited amount of training and zero combined arms training) they will not be a conventional threat for many years! Yes never underestimate your enemy but also never overestimate their capabilities and let that dictate your planning considerations! Cheers.
The Russian lessons learnt from the Georgia conflict in 2008 was that they needed to greatly improve equipment and training. Yet the result of that uplift has still found to be seriously lacking. Russian doctrine doesn’t allow SNCOs to make any decisions or any free thinking, that combined with poor training, your own government lying through its back teeth to its own Armed Force’s. And all those impressive numbers on paper mean absolutely nothing when it comes to the real deal. Russia has shown the world exactly how NOT to invade another country. I doubt the Chinese will be so keen to cosy up to the Russians after this extremely poor showing of military and political incompetence.
I have to agree with you, but we must not rest on our laurels. The Russians will have learnt a very harsh lesson. It appears we have the edge let’s keep it that way even the Chinese are looking hard at Russian failures and the effectiveness of Western modern fire power.
But you need a lot of money to fix that.
Something they won’t have if the gas and oil taps are turned off hard.
“In a peer conflict we wouldn’t be fighting alone” is a logical and practical phrase, however it is often used to excuse gaps and shortfalls. It’s akin to the common office scenario wherein somebody says “there’s no i in teamwork” – inevitably it means someone else, not the speaker, is going to be designated can-carrier.
We need an uplift in Typhoon numbers that’s for sure and investing in Marte ER which should now be in full-rate production.
https://www.mbda-systems.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/MARTE-ER.pdf
We should definitely buy more Typhoons. At the very least 40 or so Tranche 3s to replace the Tranche 1s slated to be retired by 2025.
Maybe more, up to 60 or more, given that F35s are coming in at a snail’s pace.
Personally if I had my way I’d up the Typhoon numbers to around 180:
– 10 squadrons of 12 (120)
– 12 planes for OCU
– 4 for the Falklands
– 4 for OEU
– 40 spare airframes
I would buy some of the new EW version with the built in wingtip pods as well as it adds a capability not currently being flown by the RAF and likely will be utilizing the same technologies going into the Tempest.
Don’t the new F35’s have that ability?
Yes the F35B’s do have most of that.
The Captor radar also has considerable EW capabilties.
As far as I know F-35 only has a self protection ability, it doesnt have the ability to generate a bubble to protect its wingmates in the same was as the Growler and German Tornado EW planes do. BAE were hired last year to upgrade the AN/ASQ-239 so it might be a future feature.
If I were doing this I’d say yeah, set up an additional squadron as an ECR/EW unit.
Right now I’d just be happy if they replaced the 30-40 Tranche 1s we’ll be losing by 2025.
Looks good, I don’t doubt the ability of our fighters, aircrew and weapons compared to Russia. It’s just they can’t be in 2 places at once and how many % are in repair. So a higher bottom figure the better.
Wow a whole 14 Typhoons to Roamania that will righten tha pants o the Russians with their 1000 or so Migs , Yaks etc tHat leaveus with maybe 30 typhoons left
Its laughable although perhaps its not, its serious
Do you not understand that they are part of a much larger NATO fighter force? With capability well beyond the Russians.
It’s always sad when you have to rely on everyone else….
Bad grammar, bad spelling – and trolling.🙄
The Russian trolls are out in force at the moment 🤣
The NATO air policing force in Romania is 6 British Typhoons, 8 US F-16, 8 Italian Typhoon & 6 Romanian F-16. Thats the dedicated QRF, they launch 4 fighters to intercept every Russian contact approaching NATO airspace. On top of that the wider national forces in the area (including 8 RAF Typhoons in Cyprus) and the similar NATO air policing force in the Baltics.
Hopefully they can push out into the black sea and occupy some Crimean squadrons and further assist the Ukrainians that way
14 typhoons would scare the Russian airforce. 14 top end 4.5 generation aircraft will some of the best trained pilots in the world, backed up by an integrated air defence system are not something 80%-90% of the 3-4 generation Russian airforce can get close to.
If those Typhoons are then backing even a single 5 generation aircraft, whatever 3-4 generation formations sent against them would be gutted before they even had an awareness of what was going on.
Numbers only count if there is a degree of parity and formations can only stay operational in the face of moderate losses, go ask the Persians.
finally most of those 1000 airframes air very old indeed and the Russian airforce need to secure the air security of a massive continental land mass with its airforce, far larger than European.. and how many combat aircraft do all the European powers hold.
Hi,
I understand we also have F35B in Eastern Europe. They are too much for any Russian plane… plus the Typhoons will be armed with Meteor/ASRAAM possibly the most powerful AtoA combination available. A couple of F35s spotting for some Typhoons would deliver NATO air dominance over Ukraine in a day or so….
How many of the 1000 jets can fly?
How many of the 1000 jets have really been upgraded?
How many properly trained pilots do they have?
SB, spot on observation, It’s one thing to have this listed within Jane’s. Quite another to sustain them in the field to maintain an operational tempo . Russian pilot’s fly less than half the annual hours of their NATO counterparts.
in my past Airforce experience, in operations, if something can go wrong with a jet or it’s gear, then it will.
Russian hasnt managed to knock out the tiny Ukrainian airforce of less than 30 planes after 6 weeks of combat, which tells you how crap the Russian capability truly is.
Reasonable point however, Ukraine has been provided with huge amounts of AA weapons, so I wouldn’t write of the Russian’s air capability that quick.
off as well…
Until this week only Manpads with limited altitude reach, The Russians have been unable to suppress the S-300 long range and BUK/Tor medium range AA or knock out the Ukranian Mig-29 and Sukhoi despite claiming 80% of planes and AA were knocked out in the first week and currently claiming 130% kills.
Only the US has serious SEAD/DEAD, neither the Russians or Ukrainians have it, the result is neither side can fly missions at high altitude over Ukraine as both airforces are easily vulnerable to AA (The Russians having S400s deployed at the border).
Something for the RAF to consider. How many airworthy migs does Russia have left?
Times fourteen =196 with 28 IRIS-T (InfraRed Imaging System Tail-Thrust Vector Controlled) short-range air-to-air missiles
Eurofighter Shows Typhoon In “Beast Mode” With 14 Meteor Beyond Visual Range Air-To-Air Missiles
https://theaviationist.com/2021/02/14/eurofighter-shows-typhoon-in-beast-mode-with-14-meteor-beyond-visual-range-air-to-air-missiles/
“MBDA Meteor is considered one of the most lethal BVR (Beyond Visual Range) AAMs currently available. One of its peculiarities is the use of ramjet propulsion system – solid fuel, variable flow, ducted rocket.
“This ‘ramjet’ motor provides the missile with thrust all the way to target intercept, providing the largest No-Escape Zone of any air-to-air missile.”
To ensure total target destruction, the missile is equipped with both impact and proximity fuses and a fragmentation warhead that detonates on impact or at the optimum point of intercept to maximise lethality,”
https://theaviationist.com/2018/12/10/raf-typhoons-launch-with-meteor-bvr-air-to-air-missiles-for-the-first-time-during-qra-mission/
Triple meteor rack on the wing pylon? I didn’t know they made such a thing. That aircraft isn’t raf it has Irst missiles on outer pylons.
14 meteor must be 4 on semi recessed fuselage and 2 triple racks(6) and 4 out of that with 2 shorter range missiles on the outmost pylon. And a centre tank.
Is it useful?
The underwing launchers are not in service. At the moment it’s just a nice picture. But Typhoon could potentially carry that load out if our airforces want that capability, and the money is made available.
Quite possibley the case as you say.
Going by Russias air force performance which is dire I’m sure the Russians are frightened.
Wow thats a very bad post, were you drinking while driving while typing while driving over cobbles and speed bumps? …….Methinks you have no subject matter knowledge or experience, and in that case it helps to research the subject so your post contains even a little amount of knowledge.
front line aircraft are something we should be reviewing in any up and coming defence review. They are both eminently potential in protecting the U.K. from attack as well as massively important in protecting Europe and even better can massively support U.K. world wide power and influence.
A good buy of tranche3 typhoons is one of those sensible things we could do to replace the tranche 1s. Maybe standing up an extra squadron.
We should also have ambition an F35B buy to equip 4 squadrons + OCU. That would allow 1 carrier to be full or 2 standard air wings.
Personally I think we should either do 4x F34 plus 8x Typhoon squadrons, or 7x Typhoon squadrons plus 5x F35 squadrons. Aim for 12 squadrons total.
We could probably get the Typhoons in faster so I’d probably lean towards 8 squadrons of them.
4x F35 sorry. Can’t type to save my life today!
that’s probably an achievable balance Steve. I think the RAF currently has 7 Typhoon sqns. I’m pretty sure the planned buy was for 4 F35 sqns, 2 RAF,2 RN? No doubt, the RAF will retire the T1 Typhoons in 2025 , so that leaves only 5 front line Typhoon sqns.
LOL, Boris is in Kyiv.
Is the plan to get rid of tranche 1 Typhoons still to go ahead I wonder ,if so another bad desion by the Government.🤔
Amazing contrast between Heroic Zalensky who’s clearly after what’s best for his country & people & Boris out grandstanding to get some of that glory by association whilst shafting the UK & getting as much public money into his mates accounts & taking Russian money. Still falling short of our treaty obligations with Ukraine.
Another tabloid political rant!!! Remember the leftist organisations allegedly got Russian money during the cold war?
Get a grip frank
From what I have seen Boris was quite humble in his Kyiv walkabout with Zelenskyy and if he even takes a little credit why not? I’m proud of Britain’s contribution and even Australia’s too even though much smaller. Strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦 and its people and President in the face off Russian evil. Good on Boris too! Though I reckon he could lose a little bit of weight… Lol 😁
Your political comments are getting boring as they are skewing your view of the subject matter.
Do you work for Momentum? or just a plonker?
Aren’t they the same thing?
They certainly are!
Why the ‘or’.
Isn’t the second status a prerequisite for the first status?
Silly question time:
How far can a E3 AWAC see?
Reason I ask, is all the pro Russian crowd as pushing the line that the Tochka missile attack was actually launched by the Ukraine agaisnt its own (yeah despite the fact the missile launch was caught by somebody 8 mins before it struck ) anyway I found that an E3 at 30000 ft can see around 250 miles, but could it spot a double ballistic missile launch 650 miles away
The distance to the horizon is about 215 miles, but certain radar frequencies bend a bit, so 250 seems about right. It can see out to about 400+ miles at height. If you are asking could it see the launch at 650 miles away, from Poland to Shakhtarsk, not unless it was networked to a closer sensor.
Ta 👍
The USA have the space satellite based infrared missile plume detection system. That can detect the exhaust plumes from missiles. How small a missile I’m not sure.
I did hear after gulf war they wanted to upgrade it to be able to pick up shorter range theater launch missiles.
What I do know is rockets are very hot and stand out from a lot from normal background
The UK no longer has any e3s… They would have to rely on someone else to give them that information
Testington McTest?
Yes.
If Kronkies , up what have you done Ardens sending 2 c130s have you been sending her emails as well of the Hercs she’s sending 50 ground crew well played Kiwi