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16 | Flight International | 15-21 August 2017 flightglobal.com

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T

hrough a shimmering heat
haze, the pilots of two sleek
combat aircraft run to their jets,
armed and ready beneath make-
shift sun shelters on a Romanian
base near the Black Sea coast.
These are not the crews of the
home nation’s Aerostar-adapted
MiG-21 Lancer interceptors,
however, but of Royal Air Force
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4s,
deployed to help safeguard
NATO territory.
Located near Constanta, Mi-
hail Kogalniceanu air base is
home to one of the alliance’s en-
hanced air policing missions,
where since early May responsi-
bility for the quick reaction alert
(QRA) cover of Romanian air-
space has alternated, one week at
a time, between MiG-21s and
four visiting Typhoons.
The first operation of its kind
on Europe’s southeastern flank,
the arrangement is one example
of the assurance measures adopt-
ed by NATO after Russia’s annex-
ation of Crimea from Ukraine in

2014. The RAF describes its cur-
      rent commitment – named Oper-
      ation Biloxi – as intended to
      “demonstrate the collective re-
      solve of allies, the defensive na-
      ture of NATO and deter the threat
      of Russian aggression”.
      “The mission is not to take
      over from our Romanian col-

leagues – it’s to supplement,”

says Wg Cdr Andrew Coe, com-

manding officer of the RAF’s 135

Expeditionary Air Wing (EAW). It

also has provided the toughest

test yet of the service’s ability to

operate its Typhoons from a re-

mote facility with limited estab-

lished infrastructure.

FlightGlobal visited the Roma-

nian base on 7 August as main-

land Europe baked in a summer

heatwave of above 35 ̊C (95 ̊F),

and as the UK was nearing the end

of its four-month period of duty.

Coe says that when he first ar-

rived in late April – in darkness,

aboard an Airbus Defence & Space

A400M tactical transport – he was

greeted by blizzard conditions,

high wind speed and very little in

the way of facilities to support a

sophisticated combat aircraft.

“The Romanian air force are re-

ally gracious hosts, and they gave

COMMITMENT CRAIG HOYLE MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU AIR BASE

Typhoons guard Romania in

a new mode of engagement

Royal Air Force says deployment to Black Sea coast delivers much more than air policing

us what they could,” he says.

Two buildings previously used

to house fire trucks were rapidly

prepared as a headquarters and

support facility for 135 EAW, and

temporary shelters were added at

the end of the runway for two of

the arriving fighters.

Headquartered at RAF Leem-

ing in Yorkshire, the expedition-

ary unit has drawn together just

over 140 personnel from more

than 20 sites in the UK, including

the service’s Typhoon main oper-

ating base at Coningsby in Lin-

colnshire, and others including

Brize Norton, Lossiemouth and

Valley.

Four or five pilots are included

in this total at any one time, and

are replaced around once a

month. Primarily drawn from 3

Sqn at Coningsby, they are aug-

mented by one pilot from else-

where within the service’s Ty-

phoon force.

A combined six A400M, A

Voyager tanker/transport and

Lockheed Martin C-130J flights

were required to deploy the bulk

of personnel and equipment,

while around 30 ISO shipping

containers arrived by sea. Ground

support vehicles such as genera-

tors and fuel and fire trucks were

also transported from the UK.

“I brought a mini air force,

and it shows that you can deploy

and operate the Typhoon suc-

cessfully,” says Coe. “You don’t

have to have hundreds of com-

puters and hundreds of techni-

cians – we can do it from quite

an austere base.”

Due to a perceived high risk of

its aircraft being affected by for-

eign object damage (FOD), the

RAF also brought a runway-

sweeping vehicle and a pair of

spare Eurojet EJ200 engines for

its Typhoons, which have not

been required.

Although it has hosted MiG-21s

for the last several years, Mihail

Kogalniceanu is traditionally a

helicopter base, with Romanian

air force IAR Brasov SA330 Puma

transport/assault rotorcraft operat-

ing from the site. A permanent de-

tachment of US Army Sikorsky

UH-60 Black Hawks is also pre-

sent, sharing the same ramp area

as the Typhoons.

FOD-WATCH

“We’ve almost had to introduce a

FOD-aware culture” on the base,

says Sqn Ldr Paul Hanson, chief

of staff operations for 3 Sqn. “The

MiG-21 appears to eat FOD quite

happily, but the Romanians have

discovered with their [Lockheed]

F-16s that it’s not the case with a

more modern aircraft.”

Infrastructure at the site is

currently being improved, with

the foundations recently laid for

a new hangar – at present, one

visiting Typhoon can make use

of an existing structure if work

“I brought a mini air

force, and it shows

that you can deploy

and operate the

Typhoon successfully”

Wg Cdr Andrew Coe

Commanding officer,

135 Expeditionary Air Wing,

Royal Air Force

Crown Copyright
Two armed jets are kept at readiness under temporary sun shelters