[Photo] Joint Terminal Attack Controllers working two Eurofighter Typhoons at night

The image in this post shows Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) from 29th Commando Regiment RA (Royal Artillery) working with two RAF Typhoon FGR4 aircraft during a recent Joint Warrior exercise.

What makes the long exposure photo, taken by Andy Walker, interesting is the fact that you can guess the path of the two planes by the “dots” of their navigation lights.

JTACs provide provide precision terminal attack guidance of attack planes from a forward position. In other words, they are modern FAC (Forward Air Controllers).

Usually working embedded on a patrol, in an armored vehicle, from TOC (Tactical Operations Center) of a FOB (Forward Operating Base) the JTAC is extremely important to help pilots cueing the weapons to the correct ground target and avoid friendly fire or collateral damage.

Image credit: Andy Walker

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About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.