British Typhoon jets conduct Agile Combat Employment

Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoons, currently deployed to Romania for enhanced Air Policing, have conducted an Agile Combat Employment (ACE) to Poland in support of the US-led exercise Astral Knight 24, an Integrated Air & Missile Defence (IAMD) exercise.

From May 13 to 17, three Typhoon fighter jets were redeployed from Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in Romania to the Polish 31st Air Base at Krzesiny.

Over 50 personnel from the Typhoon detachment participated in the ACE deployment, performing joint air operations with Polish Air Force F-16s.

An RAF A-400M aircraft transported maintenance personnel and materials to Krzesiny Air Base, ensuring mission readiness during the ACE deployment. RAF ground crew collaborated with Polish maintainers to support the Typhoons.

“We’ve all learned a lot from each other on how to move forward as part of NATO,” said an RAF Typhoon pilot. After completing the deployment, the RAF Typhoons returned to Romania to continue their NATO enhanced Air Policing duties.

“Our role in the exercise was conducting DCA, which stands for Defensive Counter Air, where we acted defensively against a simulated attack on European countries,” explained Flight Lieutenant Clarke, an RAF Typhoon Pilot.

“There have been many nations contributing to this exercise, and we’ve all learned a lot from each other on how to move forward as part of NATO. It has been a very successful mission, and the Polish Air Force have supported us fantastically. We’re very grateful for all their support throughout the exercise, and we look forward to working with them again in the near future.”

The ACE deployment concluded with the RAF Typhoons returning to Romania, where they will continue their NATO enhanced Air Policing mission until the end of June, before heading back to RAF Lossiemouth.

ACE deployments are operational manoeuvres designed to increase resiliency while generating combat power from home bases as well as geographically dispersed locations.