Senior leaders from the Royal Air Force have met His Royal Highness, Lieutenant General Prince Turki bin Bandar the Commander of the Royal Saudi Air Force and counterparts from across the world, during Exercise Spears of Victory.
Deputy Commander Operations, Air Marshal Smyth and the Deputy Air Component Commander (Middle East), Air Commodore Thomas, joined His Royal Highness and leaders from the participating Air Forces including, Greece, Jordan, Bahrain, Pakistan, Qatar, the USA and Saudi Arabia, to see first-hand the world class training provided at the newly established Air Warfare Centre.
Large Force Employment missions provide RAF pilots and personnel the ability to improve their tactical and leadership skills working as part of a multinational coalition. The exercise provides challenging and realistic scenarios, preparing personnel for the threats of modern air combat and working closely with partner nations.
Air Marshal Smyth
Deputy Commander Operations
The distinguished guests visited the recently opened Air Warfare Centre touring the impressive facilities at the $104 million training complex which provides visiting Air Forces state of the art mission planning and briefing rooms, systems to watch live sorties and aircraft maintenance hangars including 24 aircraft sunshades.
It is an honour to be with you to, celebrate the success of Spears of Victory 2023. This was the largest exercise to date as well as one of the largest multi domain international exercises in the region. To the forces that participated I applaud your high morale and your tradition of excellence.
Fighting as a joint and integrated force is crucial to succeeding in modern warfare. During exercises like this one we are sustaining strong partnerships that help regional peace, enhance security and improve interoperability between our forces. I hope we used this exercise to develop lasting friendships and relationships, the trust that was built here will prove vital to everyone when we must stand shoulder to shoulder on the battlefield.
Lieutenant General Turki bin Bandar
Commander of the Royal Saudi Air Force
This Exercise has provided the participants with the experience of multiple high intensity air combat missions and the confidence to build their understanding of integrated leadership and air warfare missions and air war fighting culture. They have learned from each other face to face. Spears of Victory is unique because it provides the most tactical integration of airpower. Finally, I would like to thank you all for joining us and hope to welcome you back.
Major General Khalid Al Harbi
Air Warfare Centre Commander
The exercise is designed to replicate a contemporary conflict and develops in complexity involving a range of fighter aircraft, including Typhoons, Tornados, F-15s, F-16s and JF-17s, performing both friendly and adversary roles. Participants practice defensive and offensive counter air, air interdiction, and air-to-ground missions, testing the reactions of pilots in a variety of situations. It provides the opportunity for all participants to work in a high tempo, highly contested air warfare environment this allows them to develop essential mission planning and command and control skills, to execute complex air combat sorties alongside coalition and regional partners.
The deployment of Typhoon and personnel to Spears of Victory is a brilliant opportunity for us to train alongside our partner nations and represents a tangible expression of the UK’s enduring commitment to safety, security and prosperity in the region. The deployment includes a diverse team of experienced RAF professionals ranging in age and background, all working together to deliver world beating airpower capabilities.
Air Commodore Thomas
UK Deputy Air Component Commander (Middle East), Air Commodore Thomas
Throughout the exercise we have been presented with realistic and challenging threat scenarios to plan and fly. During each sortie, we practice engaging hostile aircraft and defending against surface-to-air missiles in order to achieve the mission objectives. The Typhoon is an incredibly capable multi-role aircraft and thanks to hard work of the engineers and support staff, we have been able to make the most of this incredible training opportunity, by exploiting the aircraft’s full capabilities in both the air-to-air and air-to-surface roles, often in the same mission.
Flight Lieutenant Benson
Detachment Pilot
