A detachment of German Air Force Eurofighter fighters have arrived in Romania to undertake combined Quick Reaction Alert training alongside the RAF Typhoon fast jets already deployed there.
Two German Air Force Eurofighters have flown into Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in Southern Romania to commence training with RAF Typhoons that are currently conducting NATO enhanced Air Policing patrols in the Region.
During this training deployment for the first time the German Eurofighters will also be armed. This will mean that for the first time on a NATO Air Policing mission two NATO allies will be conducting live armed training scrambles.
This is the third time since 2020 that both air forces have joined forces on active deployments as part of the bi-lateral Eurofighter Interoperability Enhancement programme. Under the current twinning programme the Luftwaffe and RAF will be flying combined training missions as part of a concept known as ‘plug and fight’. This training is designed to further develop processes by which air and ground crews can work side by side.
“It is wonderful to welcome our German Air Force friends here to Romania; by working and training closely together with our NATO ally we are better able to understand our different ways of working.
“We want to exploit this training to operate our fighters in a combined manner to further reinforce our interoperability.”
Wing Commander Stephen Lamping
Officer Commanding 121 Expeditionary Air Wing
The Luftwaffe Eurofighter Detachment Commander for Tactical Air Wing 71 'Richthofen', Lieutenant Colonel Christoph Hachmeister and his team of 40 personnel will train with the EAW. Describing the deployment, he said this will be: “A brilliant opportunity to learn more about our procedures on the ground and in the air.”
He added: “Even though the EAW and TAW 71 “R” are working the same weapon system, there are different national regulations. This exchange between pilots, engineers, the logistics teams and other support personnel offers a unique chance to set a common base for combined missions.
This deployment marks the next step for the plug & fight concept leading to a combined Air Policing in the future.”
