A Royal Air Force Voyager has conducted a major air-to-air refuelling exercise with the Qatar Emiri Air Force in the latest development of UK-Qatar joint air activities.
Flying from a Qatari airbase the RAF Brize Norton based Voyager took part in Exercise Soaring Falcon and conducted air-to-air refuelling in a range of conditions with Qatar Emiri Air Force Rafale fast jets. The training has been designed to allow the Voyager crew and the Qatari pilots to build interoperability between the two air forces’ personnel and equipment.
"It has been a privilege to work alongside our Qatari allies during this exercise. Integrated activities such as these not only provide the opportunity to enhance our skills and help develop bilateral air-to air refuelling expertise with our partner, moreover they demonstrate the capability and reach available when we work together."
Squadron Leader Harvey
10 Squadron Executive Officer
This is the second such exercise, which is the regular deployment of the Qatar Air-to-Air Refuelling Service, an agreement between the UK and Qatar to provide an Air-to-Air Refuelling service for the Qatar Emiri Air Force through occasional, short deployments to Qatar. The Voyager deployments provide a valuable training opportunity for both air forces; enhancing their interoperability with other nations.
Exercise Soaring Falcon builds upon the UK’s strong defence partnership with Qatar, which is the only nation which the UK shares a joint squadrons: 11 Squadron Qatar Emiri Air Force, the joint Qatar Emiri Air Force-RAF Hawk training squadron at RAF Leeming, and 12 Squadron, the joint RAF-Qatar Emiri Air Force Typhoon squadron at RAF Coningsby. 12 Squadron will deploy to Qatar later this year and support air security operations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Read more about the support 12 Squadron will provide:
here
Qatar and the UK share mutual interests in ensuring stability in the Middle East. Joint operational training on exercises such as this one boost Qatar's ability to tackle the shared security challenges, which helps protect the prosperity and security of both nations.
