Operational skills were shared when Aircraft Engineers from Royal Air Force Coningsby in Lincolnshire demonstrated hot-refuelling on Eurofighter Typhoons to their Italian Air Force counterparts.
Time is critical on operations, and every second can make a difference. Refuelling a Typhoon with the engines running means that it can get airborne again with a minimum of time on the ground. It’s a new capability for the Italian Air Force (ItAF), which Coningsby’s No 3 (Fighter) Squadron and No 29 Squadron have helped them to adopt.
No 29 Squadron, the RAF Typhoon training squadron, recently returned from an operational training flight to Italy, where they familiarised ItAF personnel with the processes needed to support UK Typhoons. ItAF personnel studied their RAF counterparts during a hot-refuelling at Istrana Air Base, before practicing on their own aircraft, and then hot-refuelling an RAF Typhoon themselves.
Squadron Leader John Mercer is the Senior Engineering Officer at No 29 Squadron. He said:
“The ability to Hot Refuel is one of the features of Typhoon that gives it a real operational edge. Like our version of an F1 pitstop, you keep the engines running, get the fuel in quickly and get the aircraft back in the skies on its next mission. It saves time and allows you to keep all of the key-systems powered up.”
Technicians from No 3 (F) Squadron demonstrated hot-refuelling to ItAF Typhoon engineers during a deployment to Grosetto air base. AS1 Josh Dodsworth is an Aircraft Mechanical Technician with No 3 (F) Squadron, he said:
“The ItAF team got it right first time, they are great engineers. They were intrigued, eager to learn, if anything they were amazing. I’d have no problem with them looking after our aircraft.”
Only a few weeks previously, the Typhoons of 29 Squadron were solely supported by ItAF personnel during their deployment to Tripani air base in Sicily; including all the pre-flight and post-flight servicing activity.
The air forces of Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom all use the Eurofighter Typhoon. But because of their different regulatory arrangements, engineers and technicians from the four air forces rarely work on one another’s aircraft.
Squadron Leader Dan Harrison-Jones is the Senior Engineering Officer for No 3 (F) Squadron. He said:
“This is about interoperability and enabling each of the four NATO Typhoon nations to support each other’s aircraft. Ultimately German, Italian, Spanish, and UK colleagues will maintain and service Typhoons to the same standard, regardless of which NATO partner they belong to.”
