21 August, 2023

The UK's Royal Air Force practices rapidly relocating fighter jets....

Four Typhoons from XI(F) SquadronRAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire were instructed without prior notice to transfer to MOD Boscombe Down, Wiltshire as part of Exercise Agile Pirate. They were tasked to be ready to operate Quick Reaction Alert – to respond to potential aerial threats in or near UK airspace – without delay, testing the RAF’s ability to rapidly disperse and operate assets vital to UK defence. Later in the exercise they were joined by two F-35B Lightning aircraft, with the fifth-generation fighter jets also taking the opportunity to test their operability at an unfamiliar airbase.




The exercise is part of the RAF’s aim to conduct Agile Combat Employment or ACE. It is an approach to operations that requires RAF personnel and assets to be flexible and agile; operating in austere locations with minimal support, constantly moving and changing location to maintain the initiative, and outpace any action from an adversary whether in the UK or overseas alongside our NATO and Joint Expeditionary Force partners.

Support teams from multiple bases provided operations, engineering, logistics, communications, security, and catering to the Typhoon deployment. They too had no prior notice but were able to depart their home bases 3 hours after activation. An Atlas A400M transport aircraft delivered a bulk of essential equipment to Boscombe Down just hours after activation and a day later the deployment was operational.

The Typhoons were on standby in hardened aircraft shelters and were airborne within minutes following a scramble call from Tactical Air Command and Control, referred to as Tac Air C2. Specialists from 19 Squadron at RAF Boulmer dispersed to radar sites across the UK to give a full visual of the situation, called the Recognised Air Picture, and control the scrambled aircraft to intercept simulated threats. They achieved multiple successful intercepts of target aircraft, and with this, their largest dispersal of Tac Air C2 assets in decades demonstrated the RAF’s ability to rapidly deploy and operate in austere conditions.

MOD Boscombe Down is the home of military aircraft testing and evaluation. It is a former RAF site which has been operated by QinetiQ since 2001. QinetiQ were extremely positive in supporting the exercise – providing airfield and air traffic services, refuelling, and powered working areas. RAF Typhoons previously conducted Quick Reaction Alert from Boscombe Down in 2012 for the Olympics

The RAF deployment otherwise strived to have a minimal footprint and impact to the site. This meant catering provided by the RAF’s Mobile Catering Squadron – 3MCS, communication links from 90 Signals Unit, airfield security provided by RAF Police, and tented accommodation.








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