ZITAT
A Royal Air Force Merlin helicopter during Exercise Pashtung Vortex in Jordan. The training package included dust landings, day and night plus tactical flying practice and pairs flying.Ex Pashtung Vortex was an overseas training exercise, taking place at King Hussain International Airport, Aqaba, Jordan and involved aircraft from the Merlin Force. The exercise also enabled enviromental training and pre-deployment training objectives to be achieved.Force Elements from RAF Benson and support units formed a Joint Helicopter Force Jordan, capable of supporting and sustaining 3 Merlin aircraft for the duration of the Exercise.
© Crown copyright 2012
ZITAT
A Royal Air Force Merlin helicopter is pictured on an early morning sortie over Afghanistan.The Merlin (Bird of prey) HC3 and HC3a are operated by No 28 (AC) Squadron and 78 Squadron at RAF Benson. 78 Squadron was re-formed on 3 Dec 07 to allow for the increase in aircraft after the purchase of the 6 Danish Merlin HC3a earlier in 2007. The Merlin is the first of a new generation of advanced, medium support helicopters for the RAF. It is an all weather, day and night, multi-role helicopter used in both tactical and strategic operational roles. The aircraft carries an impressive defensive-aids suite, which includes a Radar and Laser Warning Receiver, Missile Approach Warners and Directional Infrared Countermeasures equipment, all integrated with an automatic chaff and flare dispensing system. This is one of the most comprehensive defensive aids suites fitted to any helicopter in the world.
© Crown copyright 2012
ZITAT
A British Army WAH-64 'Apache' attack helicopter fires a salvo of CRV7 (Practise) rockets at targets down range.Army Air Corps Apache pilots from 651 (AHF) Squadron based in Middle Wallop, Hampshire attended a two-day live firing exercise at Lulworth Ranges/Bovington Camp in Dorset. The aim of the exercise was to qualify the pilots as instructors so they can teach future pilots in core Apache skills.
© Crown copyright 2003
ZITAT
As the sun goes down over the Indian Ocean, HMS Northumberland’s Merlin helicopter sends more than 100 decoy flares cascading through the sky.In the middle of her counter-piracy and counter-drugs work, the Devonport-based frigate’s helicopter tested one of the many tricks in her box – her flares.These are installed to decoy incoming heat-seeking missiles – fired either by other aircraft, or ground-based threats - drawing them away from the helicopter’s engines on to a much hotter target.A crew of four Fleet Air Arm personnel – two pilots, one observer and one aircrewman – plus nine engineers and technicians, and an ‘aircraft controller’, who oversee sorties from Northumberland’s operations room in the bowels of the frigate, are responsible for the helicopter, which is embarked for the duration of the deployment. The Merlin is one of several Flights (in this case 05) provided by 829 Naval Air Squadron in Culdrose, Cornwall, to Type 23 frigates for operations around the globe.HMS Northumberland took over from her sister HMS Sutherland at the end of November and will be prowling some of the 2½ million square miles of sea – that’s more than eight times the size of the North Sea – which is the domain of the international maritime security effort in the region until the spring.
© Crown copyright 2013
ZITAT
The pilot of a Royal Air Force C-130 Hercules guides the transport aircraft into Kabul Airport, Afghanistan. The RAF has a total of 25 C-130J C4/C5 aircraft. The C4 is almost the same size as the current C3 aircraft, but with a slightly shorter fuselage, while the C5 is the same size as the C1. The C-130J has been modified and upgraded to include new Allison AE turboprop engines and Dowty Aerospace six-bladed composite propellers. The new engines and advanced propellers, coupled with a new digital engine-control system, give the C-130J increased take-off thrust and better fuel efficiency; thus the external fuel tanks have been omitted. The aircraft also has a revised flight deck with modern glass-cockpit and head-up displays, allowing two-pilot, flight deck operation. The cockpit of the aircraft is fully night-vision compatible with the use of night-vision goggles. A separate air loadmaster station has been established in the cargo hold. The aircraft has been cleared for wider use in the tactical TS role and is used for operational missions involving parachute ops and air despatch.
© Crown copyright 2012
ZITAT
A Royal Air Force Typhoon aircraft is pictured at RAF Leuchars in Scotland.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.Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain formally agreed to start development of the aircraft in 1988 with contracts for a first batch of 148 aircraft – of which 53 were for the RAF – signed ten years later. Deliveries to the RAF started in 2003 to 17® Sqn who were based at BAE Systems Warton Aerodrome in Lancashire (alongside the factory where the aircraft were assembled) while detailed development and testing of the aircraft was carried out. Formal activation of the first Typhoon Squadron at RAF Coningsby occurred on the 1st Jul 2005. The aircraft took over responsibility for UK QRA on 29 Jun 2007 and was formally declared as an advanced Air Defence platform on 1 Jan 2008.
© Crown copyright 2012
ZITAT
An ASTOR Sentinel R1 surveillance aircraft of 5AC (Army Cooperation) Squadron.The ASTOR system (Airborne Stand-Off Radar) on the Sentinel R1 aircraft is used to gather vital information for forces in the fight against the Taleban.These aircraft can detect and recognise moving, static and fixed targets on the ground and are capable of operating for over nine hours at a time. The information gathered is transmitted to ground stations to enable rapid tactical planning and the efficient cueing of assets. ASTOR has been successfully used by Number 5 (AC) Squadron based at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire.
© Crown copyright 2007
ZITAT
HMS Monmouth's Lynx Mk 8 helicopter creates a stunning backdrop of decoy flares during a test of her countermeasures systems in the Middle East.The long range eyes, ears and claws of ‘The Black Duke’ are provided by ‘The Black Knight’, a Lynx Mk8 Maritime Attack Helicopter of 215 Flight from 815 Naval Air Squadron (NAS).
© Crown copyright 2013