When 6 Squadron returned from Pitch Black in Australia during late August last year, it took the opportunity to fly a mission with the Indian Air Force. Here, a 6 Sqn Typhoon flies in close formation with a Rafale and Su-30MKI. How interoperable the Typhoon is with an Su-30MKI is anyone’s guess

During the recent Exercise Cobra Warrior, the RAF F-35Bs and Typhoons worked with this Italian Air Force Gulfstream 550 Conformal Airborne Early Warning aircraft. With the Sentry AEW1 retired last year and the E-7 not due to enter service until 2023/24, it was handy to work with a similar asset from an allied force

Four 6 Squadron Typhoon FGR4s fitted with Litening laser designator pods participated in Exercise Pitch Black last August

Russia’s threat has seen fourth/fifth-generation integration by all NATO forces gain some real momentum. Here, an RAF Typhoon is seen intercepting a Tu-142MZ Bear during a Baltic Air Policing mission in 2019. Two QRA sites at RAF Lossiemouth and RAF Coningsby protect the skies over the UK

The RAF’s Voyager KC2/3 air-to-air tanker fl eet is playing a major part in refuelling British combat air patrols not just over NATO’s eastern flanks, but in sorties over Iraq and Syria during Operation Shader. A far cry from the days of Tristars and VC-10s, which were regularly breaking down due to their age

When the E-7 Wedgetail arrives, it will enhance dramatically the operational prowess of fourth/fifth-generation interoperability. Having worked with the RAAF Wedgetail during FPDA exercises and recent Pitch Black drills, the RAF is excited at the prospect of the cutting-edge capabilities of this airborne early warning and control platform with its extremely able MESA radar

Two RAF F-35B Lightnings fly off the wing of an Italian Air Force KC-767A tanker during multinational exercise Cobra Warrior 22, hosted in the UK, with both fourth and fifth-generation aircraft taking part

Arming a ‘Dambusters’ F-35B aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth during Westlant 19 exercise. Armourers practise preparing the jet for combat operations, mounting AMRAAMs internally, while there are ASRAAMs and Paveway IV laser-guided bombs under the wings. The aircraft never flew with these loads because the SRVL (Shipborne Rolling Vertical Landing) had not then been perfected

The shape of things to come. A British Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning with ASRAAMs mounted on the wing tips, and SPEAR 3 and Meteor carried inside the weapons bays