Military Jets Photography: 2015 07 17 RIAT Fairford

The Royal International Air Tattoo is the biggest military aviation air show in the world and 2015 saw the official commemorations by the Royal Air Force for the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain at RAF Fairford. This was also linked into the main operational theme “Securing the Skies: Past, Present and Future.”
RIAT over the years has gained such a reputation in getting the exotica that no other military air show can match it, with the likes of Russian AF Bears, the South Koreans with their Black Eagles aerobatic team & this year was no exception. Rumors began circling around the enthusiast community a few weeks before the show of the potential of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force attending the show in some form, then a couple of weeks before the show Douglas Bader House made the announcement that a pair of Kawasaki P-1 maritime patrol aircraft were to attend the show – one in the flying and one on static display. A real coup for the organizers to get these to attend.
Moving on to the static display, yes the size is considerably down on the glory days but there was still an outstanding international participation, the undoubted stars for the enthusiasts were a pair of Spanish Air Force Northrop SF-5M Freedom Fighters making their debut at UK air show, parked alongside were a pair of USAF Fairchild A-10C Thunderbolt IIs from the 355th Fighter Wing from Davis Monthan AFB in Arizona, deployed to Europe as part of the Theater Support Packages of Operation Atlantic Resolve.
Talking of American assets it was good to see the gradual return of military participation from them after the effects of sequestration in 2013, in the form of an AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Blackhawk from the United States Army, based in Germany, very rare visitors to the UK, parked alongside these were a couple of special forces aircraft from RAF Mildenhall making their Air Tattoo debutantes in the form of the Lockheed Martin MC-130J Commando II and a Bell/Boeing CV-22B Osprey.
Moving on to the flying display as stated earlier the main theme was the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain, it was honoured by a very impressive formation flypast of Supermarine Spitfires, Hawker Hurricanes and, more notably, a Messerschmitt Bf109 alongside its Buchon Bf109 stablemate and the debut appearance of the recently restored Bristol Blenheim. Notably to get five Hawker Hurricanes for the flypast was a rare feat which the organisers should be applauded for. The other part of the Battle of Britain salute was the superb “Synchro 75” routine flown by Flt Lt Anthony Parkinson in the BBMF’s Spitfire IIa P7350 and Flt Lt Ben Westoby-Brooks in the specially marked Typhoon FGR4. They totally deserved picking up the Steedman Display Sword – presented by The Royal International Air Tattoo in memory of the late Air Chief Marshal Sir Alasdair Steedman, Chairman of the International Air Tattoo (1981-1988), for the Best Flying Demonstration by a UK participant, a very poignant display.
Making a very long overdue first appearance at RIAT were the French Air Force’s Dassault Mirage 2000N tactical demonstration team “Ramex Delta.” The team consist of a pair of the nuclear strike variant of the famous French fighter demonstrating some very tight formation flying as well as many of their tactical manoeuvres they deploy on missions.
Making another first appearance were “Team Zeus” an F-16C in a striking new colour scheme all though deservedly winning the trophy for the best paint scheme it’s actual display was somewhat underwhelming very reminiscent of United States style demonstrations, with reasonably lengthy repositions between each pass.
Making a welcome return to the flying display were the Finnish AF flying the Boeing FA-18C Hornet flown by Capt Ville Uggeldahl, a powerful and noisy display showing the true agility of the Hornet. It won the Best Solo Jet Demonstration-The Paul Bowen Trophy, presented in memory of the Royal International Air Tattoo co-founder Paul Bowen.
RIAT celebrated the 35th Anniversary of TTTE (Trinational Tornado Training Establishment) this involved three Panavia Tornado’s from the RAF, Luftwaffe and Italian Air Forces flying together in a very rare formation which made three passes along the crowd-line. Each pass demonstrated the Tornado in a different wing sweep configuration.
The United States Air Force made a very welcome return to the Air Tattoo flying displays with a another example of the CV-22B Osprey operating directly from RAF Mildenhall. An excellent display highlighting the contrast in the high speed performance and hovering capabilities of this unique tilt-rotor aircraft.