A squadron of Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoons has been deployed to Saudi Arabia to take part in a large-scale multination air exercise. The aircraft from the RAF’s XI (Fighter) Squadron were in the Middle Eastern country to take part in the 2024 ‘Spears of Victory’ exercise and flew daily sorties between February 5 and 15, 2024, as part of a large coalition of nations,
During the exercise, the participating nations flew together in mixed groups to conduct air operations against a simulated peer adversary. Each contingent of aircraft participating in the missions practiced conducting defensive counter-air and offensive counter-air operations. The sorties also took part in air interdiction training against live and simulated threats.
“The missions that were flown on Spears for Victory 2024 were the centerpiece of the exercise,” said Squadron Leader Hodgkinson of the RAF. “Pilots and aircrew on a multinational exercise are able to build relationships through shared experiences.”
In addition to the RAF Typhoons taking part, the Royal Saudi Air Force flew its Typhoons, Tornados and F-15s. Further F-16s took part from the air forces of Greece and the UAE. Meanwhile, the Saudi F-15s were joined by others from Qatar, with the French Air and Space Force detachment contributing Rafales.
The Pakistan Air Force flew their JF-17s, while the Royal Air Force of Oman deployed Typhoons to the exercise. The US contribution was to allocate KC135 tanker aircraft sorties to add to the air-to-air refueling capability. In total, over 60 aircraft took part in the exercise overall.
“The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) and the RAF have a strong alliance that has continued to develop here on Spears of Victory 2024, we look forward to working together in the future,” said Colonel Alshehri Saeed, Royal Saudi Air Force Exercise Director.”
“Whilst on Spears of Victory, a number of us took part as the Mission commander, Deputy Mission commander, or a Package Lead,” said the RAF’s Flight Lieutenant ‘Boz’. “During one sortie I was the air-to-air package lead. What that means is whilst I am leading a formation of Typhoons, I’m also feeding into the bigger picture and in charge of other assets within the area of operations.”
“With this being a network-enabled exercise, I not only have the situational awareness of my own formation but also what other callsigns are doing and that is a critical element of modern warfighting,” he added.