RAF Take To The Skies Over Nevada
A number of Royal Air Force aircraft & various other nationalities have been participating in Exercise Red Flag recently. The first Red Flag of 2020 involves the United States, RAAF, Spain & United Kingdom. Each bringing their aircraft & expertise to the exercise. The exercise seeks to improve the combat readiness, capability & interoperability between the participating nations.
The Royal Air Force has sent several aircraft to participate, including some Typhoons which have been in the United States for several months. A total of 5 F-35Bs were sent, they are:
ZM141
ZM142
ZM144
ZM146
ZM139
A Voyager tanker ZZ337. The RAAF has also sent one of their E7 Wedgetail AWAC aircraft to the exercise (A30-001) The Spanish Air Force sent several Typhoons. The US aircraft participating range from E/A-18G to B1-B bombers.
The RAF F-35s to undergo some issues on their way to Red Flag, due to a refueling issue between one of the jets & the Voyager tanker forces the aircraft to divert to Lajes Air Base in the Azores until another Voyager was sent to take them the rest of the way.