RAF Typhoons have exercised with visiting US B-52 bombers.
RAF Typhoon FGR4 aircraft, based at RAF Coningsby, carried out a practice intercept on U.S. B-52 bombers deployed to RAF Fairford, UK, as part of Bomber Task Force Europe 20-1.
Photos posted by the Royal Air Force show the “Tiffies” escorting one of the four B-52 assigned to the 96th Bomb Squadron, 2nd Bomb Wing from Barksdale Air Force Base, Lousiana, during the integration and interoperability training the Stratofortress bombers are conducting with several European allies and partners in Europe.
“This training exercise with the B-52 is the latest in a series of air integration training opportunities that have seen RAF and USAF aircraft operating together training to fly missions in a hostile air environment and marks a shift away from the counter-insurgency operations that have been conducted in recent years” says the official release.
Since they deployed to Europe on Oct. 10, the B-52s have carried out training missions across all the continent: they have conducted a 12-hour extended duration sortie over the Black Sea region on Oct. 19; three “Buffs” flew over the Baltic region on Oct. 23 and at least one was involved in joint training with the French Air Force on Oct. 25, when a B-52, accompanied by Rafales, refueled from a FAF C-135FR over France.
