Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Moray Typhoons arrive in the Middle East for training exercise

Typhoons arrive in Oman.
Picture credit: RAF Lossiemouth
Typhoons arrive in Oman. Picture credit: RAF Lossiemouth

I feel the need – the need for speed!

Typhoons from RAF Lossiemouth have arrived in the Middle East to take part in military exercise SAIF SAREEA 3, as part of 140 Expeditionary Air Wing.

Four fighter jets arrived in the South of Oman yesterday following an overnight stop in Athens with four more Typhoons expected to fly in today.

They are the first air component to arrive in Thumrait and will be followed by E-3D Sentry aircraft from RAF Waddington’s 8 Squadron.

The Typhoons will fly alongside the Royal Air Force of Oman’s F-16 aircraft during the largest tri-service, bilateral, interoperability exercise in the region for almost two decades.

Picture credit: RAF Lossiemouth

Squadron Leader Bruce McConnell, a II(AC) Squadron pilot, has been in Oman for two weeks preparing for the aircraft’s arrival, he said: “It’s great to see the jets here safely; the engineering team have done a great job getting eight jets ready for the transit flight.

“Now the aircraft are here we can start to focus on the exercise. Everyone is looking forward to working alongside the Omani pilots and seeing what their aircraft can do.”

Group Captain Radnall, Commanding Officer of 140 EAW, has overall command of the RAF contingent at Thumrait, from the Armoured Vehicles used by 1 Squadron RAF Regiment, to the E-3D Sentry aircraft flown by 8 Squadron.

He said: “We have had personnel on the ground for a while now, setting up the life-support in advance of the Force Elements arrival. With the Typhoons now here, there is a real buzz about the place.

“This exercise has been a huge challenge logistically, but with so many elements working together in such close proximity, there is a real opportunity to learn individually and collectively.”

Captain Radnall added: “This is the third iteration of exercise SAIF SAREEA, the first being back in 1987. Together with the other UK armed services and our allies from the Sultan’s Armed Forces, we can exploit this proven formula to benefit us all and set us on a successful and collaborative path for years to come.”