W
ITH MUCH
ATTENTION focused
on the imminent
retirement of the
Tornado GR4 from
Royal Air Force
service next year and on the progress
being made towards bringing the F-35B
Lightning II into service, the Typhoon
FGR4 continues to demonstrate its
credentials. It now forms the meat of the
RAF’s ‘combat air’ capability.
Air Vice-Marshal Gerry Mayhew, Air
O cer Commanding No 1 Group,
recently spoke to reporters about the
contribution the Typhoon is making to
the RAF’s fast jet front line, for which he
is responsible.
Mayhew, who joined the RAF in 1988,
is an extremely experienced fast jet
pilot. A former Jaguar quali ed weapons
instructor, Mayhew ew the F-16 on
exchange with the US Air Force and
commanded a Tornado GR4 squadron.
Having also own the Typhoon, he
describes it as, ‘the best aeroplane I have
ever own, a superb multi-role ghter,
a superb swing-role aeroplane, and
exciting to y.’A committed force
Mayhew oversees a Typhoon force
that currently consists of ve front-line
squadrons, an operational conversion unit
(OCU), and an operational evaluation unit
(OEU). The ve operational squadrons
hold 24-hour quick reaction alert (QRA)
seven days a week from RAF Coningsby
and RAF Lossiemouth in the UK and in
the Falkland Islands, where No 1435 Flight
has four aircraft and crews on rotational
detachment at the end of an 8,000-mile
sustainment line. Maintaining this is
‘quite a challenge’, according to Mayhew,
but one that is manageable ‘thanks to
the whole-force approach that we take,
working with our partner nations and with
our partner companies.’
The Typhoon force is also cycling its
squadrons through Operation ‘Shader’, the
British commitment to missions against
so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
Each squadron deploys to RAF Akrotiri in
turn to y missions from this UK sovereign
base on the southern tip of Cyprus.
Mayhew said that Operation ‘Shader’
has evolved from being simply a kinetic
operation for the Typhoon to a swing-
role mission. ‘The aircraft is armed [for]The Royal Air Force fi rst pressed its Typhoons in combat action
in 2011 over Libya. Since then, they’ve continued to demonstrate
their evolution in capabilities in operational theaters.REPORT Jon Lake
air-to-air and air-to-ground every time she
ies,’ he said.
The Typhoons have operated from
Akrotiri alongside Tornado GR4s since
late 2014. ‘[The] Typhoon and Tornado
sometimes operate separately, and
sometimes together, to make sure that we
have the right kind of weapons available
for the right kind of task,’ Mayhew
comments, ‘because all kinds of targets are
being intercepted, sometimes in towns
and cities [which are always challenging
for us] to those that are out in more open
countryside. So it is about weapons-to-
target matching.’
On Operation ‘Shader’, the Typhoon
has been working with a large number
of coalition partners, gaining useful
experience of using datalinks, including
for kinetic and air-to-air operations.
Air Commodore Johnny Stringer served
as the UK air component commander for
Operation ‘Shader’ in Al Udeid, Qatar, until
November last year. ‘On [the] Typhoon
we’ve had excellent availability’, he
told Combat Aircraft in January. ‘We’ve
also used the swing-role capability on
numerous occasions including combat
air patrols and strike on the same sorties.’
Stringer said that Typhoons regularly ew
missions lasting more than eight hours
over Syria.
The RAF is now into the second rotation
of the squadrons on ‘Shader’, in addition to
the raft of ad hoc responsibilities that theAbove: A RAF
Typhoon FGR4
takes on fuel
from a US Air
Force KC-10A
Extender during
an Operation
‘Shader’ mission.
USAF/SrA
Preston Webb
Right: AVM Gerry
Mayhew chats
with Typhoon
personnel
during a recent
detachment in
Romania.
Crown Copyright62 April 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON // ROYAL AIR FORCE
62-63 SUPP_OP Shader C.indd 62 15/02/2018 13:41