Royal Air Force Quick Reaction Alert aircraft were launched on six days in 2025 and have launched on three days so far in 2026, according to figures released by the Ministry of Defence.
The data came in a written parliamentary answer from defence minister Louise Sandher-Jones on 2 July, responding to a question from Graeme Downie, the Labour MP for Dunfermline and Dollar, who asked how many QRA launches there were from RAF Lossiemouth and RAF Coningsby in each month of 2025 and 2026.
In 2025, QRA launched on one day in January, two days in April, one day in August and two days in September, with no launches recorded in the remaining eight months. In 2026, launches took place on one day each in January, April and May, with none in February, March or June. The figures cover the year to the end of June.
Quick Reaction Alert is the RAF’s standing mission to defend UK airspace, with armed Typhoon fighters held at continuous readiness around the clock at two stations: RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire covering the southern portion of UK airspace and RAF Lossiemouth in Moray covering the north.
Crews are held at high readiness to scramble within minutes against aircraft that are unidentified, uncooperative or cannot be contacted by air traffic control. Launches range from responding to civilian airliners that have lost radio contact to intercepting Russian long-range aviation, such as Tu-95 Bear and Tu-142 maritime patrol aircraft, approaching the UK’s area of interest over the North Sea and North Atlantic.
QRA Typhoons are supported by Voyager tankers held at readiness at RAF Brize Norton to extend their time on station.
The response provides combined figures rather than the breakdown between Lossiemouth and Coningsby that was requested, and it records the number of days on which QRA launched each month rather than the number of individual launches, meaning a day on which multiple aircraft or multiple scrambles occurred is counted once.
