Top guns from RAF Lossiemouth have been sharpening their skills as part of a series of intense training exercises in the skies above the English Channel.
Pilots in the II (army cooperation) squadron are preparing for future military deployments across the globe at the Culdrose airfield in Cornwall.
Wing Commander Roger Elliott, the squadron’s commanding officer, said: “We are part of the quick reaction alert force at Lossiemouth, which means we are always ready for operations across the northern part of the UK and for future global deployments.
“At Culdrose we trained for deployments that could take us anywhere in the world.”
Six typhoon fighter jets from RAF Lossiemouth have been involved in the exercises, training alongside a Royal Navy type 45 Destroyer ship in the English Channel.
Wing Commander Elliott added: “The Cornish area offers us an ideal base for conducting maritime exercises with HMS Defender that will test her air defence radar and air defence capability.”
Commanding officer at Culdrose, captain Adrian Orchard OBE, welcomed the Lossiemouth pilots to the base with an oversized Cornish pasty bearing the name ‘II (AC) sqn’.
He said: “Culdrose is really excited about hosting the Typhoons.
“These training exercises represent a big part of our future, as we are looking ahead to cooperation between us, the Royal Air Force and the other services from other nations as we prepare for operations with the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier ships.”
Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose is one of Europe’s largest naval air bases.
As part of the UK’s quick reaction alert force, typhoon pilots in the II (army cooperation) squadron must be ready to defend UK airspace round the clock.